Dualism against Atman“What is truly real?” It's a question you've asked yourself at some point in your life. When this question is posed, many basic things become a complex never-ending spiral staircase of unsolved mysteries. Two philosophers who tried to find the answer were Plato and Shankara. Plato has gone down in history as one of Socrates' best students and can be said to be one of the greatest philosophers of Western philosophy. Shankara was commonly known throughout Indian philosophy. The two philosophers developed two ways of thinking: Plato's dualism and Shankara's concept of Atman. These two ways of thinking are similar but different in numerous ways. Platonic dualism can be defined as a metaphysical theory that two fundamentally different things, usually characterized as mind and matter (body), are real. # In our reality we have physical things like rocks, light, electricity, and our brains. But since there are physical things, there are also mental things such as ideas, sensations, spirits and Gods. According to dualism, man is composed of two parts: body and soul. Our soul has the power of thought which is considered the most powerful thing. For example, let's say we always look at people for their physical attributes, we might see the person as attractive, their bodily features are perfect for us but if we fail to look at the other half which is their mental being, then we are being deceived from it seems to the end. If all we do is look at physical things, then we may get the wrong idea. Shankara's concept of Atman is the Hindu notion of the True Self or pure consciousness or inner Brahman. Atman has five sheaths unlike dualism which has two parts. The five sheaths of the Atman are: 1.) the corporeal self made up of the essence of...half of the card...l?" comes from within. A person cannot determine what is truly real until he looks at everything from one physical and mental point and comes to accept things not as they are physically but as they are mentally. No theory can describe what is truly real because how do we ourselves know what is truly real? Glossary". Voices of Wisdom: A Reader of multicultural philosophy. Belmont: Wadsworth Pub, 2010. 612. Print.Kessler, Gary E. “Nondualism.” A Reader in Multicultural Philosophy. 431. Print.Kessler, Gary E. Nondualism.” Voices of Wisdom: A Reader in Multicultural Philosophy. Belmont: Wadsworth Pub, 2010. 430. Print.Kessler, Gary E. “The Jewel of Discrimination.” Voices of Wisdom: A Reader in Multicultural Philosophy: Wadsworth Pub, 2010. 432. Print.