THE ALTERNATE REALITIES OF PHILIP K. DICK

Abstract

The science fiction of Philip K. Dick examines the issues of authenticity of reality and ontologicalpluralism through unique theories and mechanisms that Dick developed by using his ownunderstanding of alternate realities, time, simulations and cognitive processes, which all play animportant role in the perception of reality. Dick’s fiction describes a search for truth and highlightsthat reality might be fake and that it may be a construct, an illusion among numerous levels of theinauthenticity that cannot be seen through unless the categories of spatial and temporal experiencesare neglected, as a prerequisite to discover the genuine reality concealed behind the veils of deceptions,illusions and dreams. While searching for the truth, Dick shows that the entire structure thatholds the known, objective reality is not built on solid foundations, but on simulations, simulacra,paranoia, uncertainty, corporate power, consumerism, mass production and ontological pluralism.Dick’s fiction discovers and points to the cracks that appear in the illusion of authentic reality whenseveral different realities intersect or when one reality replaces another. However, elimination ofthe veil of deception often proves that reality is multi-layered, so the search for truth often ends upin an endless labyrinth of shifting realities.