Truman Show: Deceit and Doubt

1. Explain the connection between The Truman Show and Descartes’

Meditations
2. What is The Problem of the External World?”
1. How did the “extreme skeptics” answer this problem?
2. How did the “academic skeptics” answer this problem?
3. Why does the author (Blessing) suggest thinking about this is important?
4. How is the idea “Who cares as long as I’m happy?” addressed?
1. Does “truth” matter? Does “happiness” matter?
5. What is the point of Nozick’s experience machine?
6. The Cartesian Challenge: How are Percy, Truman, and Descartes related?

Building Percy Truman

Pt. 1: Select 2 (two) of the stratagems and compose a paragraph for each. Be sure
to include:

● An intro sentence orienting the reader from the movie toward Percy (the
paragraph then takes us from movie to Percy and back to the movie)
● An introduction to Percy’s stratagem (the one you selected); a direct quote
from Percy about the stratagem; and a brief explanation of the quote
● An explanation of how the idea in the quote relates to your point about
Truman.

Pt. 2: Compose a 3rd paragraph tying together Truman’s “IT” with Percy’s “IT.”

Please respond to the following:

First- what did you think of the ending of the film? Take a few moments and write your
thoughts...

Now, let’s deal with Percy’s terms as they relate to The Truman Show.

● What is the “symbolic complex” surrounding Truman? (can you explain it

using terms Percy uses?)
● The 3 Stratagems: Identify elements in the film that correspond to each of the
“ways to recover the canyon”.
○ Off the beaten path
○ Dialectical encounter (return to the path but at a level above it)
○ Breakdown of Machinery (accidental encounter)
● What is Truman’s “IT?” (careful here- “the girl” is an incomplete answer… it's
not wrong, but it's not entirely right; try to put it in the context of the “IT” essay
I gave you last week)

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