deckard and descartes (1 Viewer)

[nail]

hey, what do you call the literary technique here? a pun?? or is there some more sophisticated word i can use?

 

[roar84eighty]

allusion ? homage ?

but how can you explore this philosophical link in the essay? (if anyone would like to explain)

 

[roar84eighty]

haha linking deckard's dreaming to descartes?

you could only put no more than a passing reference imo

ED

no his name lol!
you pronounce descartes 'day-cart'

edit: and pris quoting cogito ergo sum, sorry

 

[jkdsfsio3458963]

no his name lol!
you pronounce descartes 'day-cart'

woah, i did not know that, that must be more than a coincidence

 

[nail]

no kidding!!!! of course it's more than a coincidence! so homage is the best you guys can come up with? that's not a literary technique as far as i'm concerned - that's what it is but not what the technique is. i'm still thinking pun or homonym but was hoping someone knew some fancy word that was better.

 

[raniaaa]

wow that's very very very interesting.

so i just wiki-ed this descartes fella and i reckon the deckard-descartes thing would be symbolism.

So Descartes concludes that the only indubitable knowledge is that he is a thinking thing. Thinking is his essence as it is the only thing about him that cannot be doubted. Descartes defines "thought" (cogitatio) as "what happens in me such that I am immediately conscious of it, insofar as I am conscious of it". Thinking is thus every activity of a person of which he is immediately conscious

Descartes suggested that the pineal gland is "the seat of the soul" for several reasons. First, the soul is unitary, and unlike many areas of the brain the pineal gland appeared to be unitary (though subsequent microscopic inspection has revealed it is formed of two hemispheres). Second, Descartes observed that the pineal gland was located near the ventricles. He believed the cerebrospinal fluid of the ventricles acted through the nerves to control the body, and that the pineal gland influenced this process. Finally, Descartes incorrectly believed that only humans have pineal glands, just as, in his view, only humans have minds. This led him to the belief that animals cannot feel pain, and Descartes' practice of vivisection (the dissection of live animals) became widely used throughout Europe until the Enlightenment. Cartesian dualism set the agenda for philosophical discussion of the mind-body problem for many years after Descartes' death. The question of how a nonmaterial mind could influence a material body, without invoking supernatural explanations, remains controversial to this day.

so descartes believed that only humans were able to think/feel pain, and thinking is what makes them human. this is very similar to deckard who also overlooks the replicants, killing them heartlessly under the false assumption that they do not think/feel. this ties in very well with ther representation of humanity in blade runner as the symbolism of deckard's name epitomises the moral of the whole film.

at least that's what i would say

 

[jet]

Well, Pris actually quotes Cogito Ergo Sum at one point (nearer the end than the start) implying that because they think, the replicants must then be human.

 

[JesseMatheson]

the only problem is, is that they arent looking for this type of thing.
they are looking at how the 2 texts compare to each other so for everything you find in Bladerunner there must be an equal (but not necessarily the same) idea, theme, concept etc. in the other text.

so you have this descartes thing but what are you going to compare it to? and how are you going to use it.

In my essay I dont even talk about Deckard because there is absoloutley no comparison that can be made between that character and any other in Frankenstein except for one reference where I talk about Rachael feeling love for Deckard but thats about it.

I think this is something that not many people realise.

good find but..very interesting.

 

[Aerath]

Well, Pris actually quotes Cogito Ergo Sum at one point (nearer the end than the start) implying that because they think, the replicants must then be human.

I think, Sebastien, therefore I am.

 

[nail]

Deckard and Frankenstein can surely be compared? Both 'the creator'? Therefore if Scott is suggesting a link between Deckard and Descartes, the whole "I think, therefore I am', Descartes believing that animals feel no pain (as deckard implies) etc relates directly to Frankenstein's (initial) feelings about his monster.

 

[pman]

they like techniques and historical reference is a technique that is common to both texts

 

[raniaaa]

also you could probably use this to compare the two texts showing their both 'texts in time'. blade runner calls on the 17th C philosphesies of descartes while frankenstein also incorporates 17th C Paradise Lost. the creature likens himself to adam, who received abundant love from God, to highlight that he also requires a loving and nurturing creator. in doing so he shows that he is in fact human. this is also mirrored in blade runner as everyone's already shown.

 

[JesseMatheson]

your going out on a limb.