...The 1999 film the Matrix by the Wachowski brothers is full of a host of interesting philosophical questions but one of the overriding themes of the film is an interesting reversal of Plato’s allegory of the cave. Anderson lives in world, which is controlled by the matrix agents just like Plato's prisoner lives in a cave being controlled by the puppeteers. Both Anderson and the prisoner of the cave manage to escape from the world, as they know it and come to know the world as it really is. Anderson, with some help from Morpheus, comes to realize that the life he has been leading so far is nothing but the life of a slave, shaped under the control of the Matrix, protected by the agents. Plato's prisoner comes to realize first that the shadows he is looking at are not the truth, they are just shadows cast on the wall by the people and animals. The characters, simultaneously experience shock and then a feeling of when they first perceive what is real. Neo (the name he assumes after the experience) is able to see how humans are "grown", hooked on wires, an element which symbolizes control just like the chains, which tie the prisoners in Plato's cave. Unlike Plato’s prisoner, who manages to find his way out of the cave without any help from others, Morpheus helps Neo. When Neo is faced with a moment of choice: would he take the blue pill and stay in the world of senses (Matrix) or take the red pill and start his “tumbling down the rabbit hole” and come to know reality as it objectively...
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...The Matrix In the movie The Matrix, several analogies and philosophies run through the story, as well as the clever naming of certain characters, places, and objects. Plato’s Theory of Ideas and the Myth of the Cave Plato believed that there were two worlds that existed, the world of the senses and the world of ideas. The sensory world was the physical matter, which was always changing and does not last forever, perceived through our senses. The world of ideas is eternal, and consists of patterns which the sensory world was made from. Plato said that we cannot get true knowledge from the sensory world, because it was always changing, and true knowledge lay in the world of ideas, where we perceived through reason, and not our senses. He said that the human being had an eternal soul that existed in the world of ideas before it inhabited the physical body. When the soul sees the imperfect sensory world, it gives the soul a faint recollection of the idea world, and it longs to return and see that idea world again. The Myth of the Cave is another way Plato explained this. He said that a group of humans are in a cave facing the back wall of the cave, and behind them is a high wall blocking the outside of the cave. Some other human-like creatures hold up some figures, above the wall, and all these humans can see are the shadows on the wall. They have been tied up in this position for their whole life. Plato said that the darkness of the cave represents the sensory world,...
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...Al-Haqab Mr. Lyman Hong English 1A October 8th, 2013 Rationalism and Skepticism: Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave and Wachowski’s The Matrix Today’s modern media and society are greatly influenced by not-so-modern artists, philosophers, and writers. We have all watched, read, or analyzed something that was based off of the idea of someone before us. One example for this would be the movie Inception (2010), directed by Christopher Nolan. In this movie the depiction between the idea of a dream and reality is extremely contrasted to the point where it is difficult to draw the line between what is or is not real. The mind boggling adventure of this movie makes us wonder; did the director draw this idea from thin air? The answer is no. In fact, the animated film Paprika (2007), directed by Satoshi Kon directly resembles the ideas and concepts of Inception. This is because Paprika served as a basis for Christopher Nolan in his movie Inception. Movies, concepts, and ideas are always being interpreted or rephrased in different forms. Aside from these two movies, there are other works that are very similar by concept. Two pieces of work that will be discussed further in detail are, the philosophical work, Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and Lana Wachowski’s movie, The Matrix. Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave walks the readers through a dialogue between a character named Glaucon and Plato’s former teacher, Socrates. They discuss the predisposed beliefs of humans and how those...
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...information telling the brain, “You are running in Italy, and you smell pizza.” The brain perceives this information as reality. The movie The Matrix is based on the Brain in the Vat. The Matrix, Rene Descartes, Meditation I Of The Things Of Which We May Doubt and Plato’s, “The Allegory of the Cave,” all hold similarities to the Brain in the Vat; therefore they hold similarities to each other. Although they hold similarities to each other there are also some differences between these three reasons. The similarities between the movie The Matrix, Plato’s cave analogy and Descartes’ Meditation I are that they questioned what they knew to be their world—whether it was reality or a dream; they each wanted to leave what they knew to be their world or reality to discover what they individually sensed to be a true reality. They are equivalent in that their perception of the real world started during each ones childhood. In The Matrix, Neo is controlled by a simulated computer system. In Plato’s cave the prisoners are controlled by mankind. Descartes is controlled by his false perceptions of evil demons. In The Matrix, the movie ends with Neo declaring his determination to share with the people the truth about The Matrix and them living in a true world on their own apart from control. Plato deliberates on the effect the cave leaves on one of the prisoner’s after he escapes the chains...
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...Running head: Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix After reading the Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, I realized that it endures a significant similarity to The Matrix whereas the two share nearly identical metaphysical themes and hypothetical assumptions regarding the reality of nature, the experience in the world, and the chance of illusion. At first, the ‘two world’ theory is the main theme that goes through The Matrix and the Allegory of the Cave. The existence of two worlds is what this philosophy theorizes, mainly in Plato. The world of the senses and everyday experience is of an imagined world. An Ultimate world unruffled of Formulae is of their existing. Plato is considered by the second world to be ontologically greater to the imagined world of the senses. This theory is also found in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Gnosticism with some substantial changes. In contrary, the prisoners sat facing a wall inside a cave, which gave me the scenario that the prisoners are bound by shackles from birth in the story of the cave. In their lack of knowledge, the prisoners take these shadows for the “real things” because from birth they have only seen these shadows on the walls that had images of animals and humans carrying objects. In the development of the story, one of the prisoners is unbound and made to turn around. In the beginning, he realizes the cause of the shadows, which is caused by a flame in arrears of the...
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...Allegory / Matrix? Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” and the Matrix are similar in many ways, that in which both stories revolve around human beings living in an unrealistic manner and not knowing the truth of the world that we all live in. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, we read a story about prisoners who live in a cave, and are forced to stare at the wall in front of them due to having their bodies chained to a wall. All they are able to see is the shadows that project onto the wall in front of them, the prisoners then begin to believe that the shadows in which they see on a day to day basis are the real world. Until one prisoner breaks free and discovers what truly is on the outside of that cave, his eyes are opened to a whole new world and at first he is in disbelief of what he is seeing, and of course his fellow prisoners do not believe the man, and think he is crazy because they are blinded by the fake images of the real world. The Matrix is a computer generated program to protect humans from the truth of the world’s reality. The Matrix is a dream world, built to keep us under control. Humans are all used as batteries, and the machine feeds off of the humans’ body heat and energy, they just don’t see it because of the dream world in which they live in. Until one man, Neo is contacted by Morphias, who soon opens Neo’s eyes to the real world, and shows him just how the Matrix works. Neo at first is in disbelief, he thinks everything is a dream, until he takes the blue...
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...Allegory of the Cave, Plato described symbolically the predicament in which mankind finds itself and proposes a way of salvation. The Allegory presents, in brief form, most of Plato's major philosophical assumptions: his belief that the world revealed by our senses is not the real world but only a poor copy of it, and that the real world can only be apprehended intellectually; his idea that knowledge cannot be transferred from teacher to student, but rather that education consists in directing student's minds toward what is real and important and allowing them to apprehend it for themselves; his faith that the universe ultimately is good; his conviction that enlightened individuals have an obligation to the rest of society, and that a good society must be one in which the truly wise (the Philosopher-King) are the rulers In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects, that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see. where humans are depicted as being imprisoned by their bodies and what they perceive by sight...
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...Taylor Young Phil 201 September 28, 2015 The Matrix, The Cave, and The Meditation The topic of what is real and what is false can seem to be very definite to many people. Typically, it is easy for one to think that if something is tangible it must be real. If asked what is real, one might say, “ The things that I can see, touch, smell, hear, and feel are what is real.” However, there are some people who are not satisfied with this simple answer and would challenge this view. The hit movie The Matrix, Plato’s famous cave allegory, and Rene Descartes’ meditation piece are three works of art that dare to question reality and make one think about the authenticity of the world in which we live. These three works share many similarities in intent and content. All of them intend to prove something about reality, whether it be that it is true or false, trustworthy or unreliable. In the case of The Matrix and Plato’s allegory, the audience is led to believe that the human experience is a fabrication controlled by a larger outside force. The Matrix shows this through Neo’s realization that his whole world has been under the control of a super computer made for the purpose orchestrating every single detail of the lives of the human race. In the Allegory of the Cave, we can similarly see that the prisoners have been bound in place and shown images that they were forced to accept as the true world by a master puppeteer their whole lives. Some of the content similarities...
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...ts 4. What is your understanding of Plato’s ‘Allegory of the Cave’? Plato’s Allegory of the Cave illustrates the long and arduous journey that is undertaken on the road to true enlightenment. The influence of Socrates is prevalent throughout the text. Socrates, who was Plato’s mentor, was ‘committed to a life that cultivated wisdom’. (Lecture Notes) The pursuit of Truth (The Allegory of the Cave) is one way in which we become wise. I agree with the Allegory to a certain extent. I do believe that people can have a fear of the unknown and can therefore remain static or ignorant as it were. However, I also believe that many people, and in particular children, are naturally inclined to explore and question and therefore further their knowledge, which is at odds with the prisoner as presented to us in the Cave. The first thing that must be done when discussing Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is to ask ourselves what it represents. Firstly, it’s important to point out that it is told by Plato in the context of education. The Allegory is a metaphor for the journey people must take on the road to true enlightenment or in order to gain true knowledge. He utilises the Allegory as a way to explain his theory of forms and his differing views of illusion and reality. The prisoners are living in a world in which they ‘can only look straight ahead of them and can’t turn their heads’. (Plato, 1955, p.256) In this sense, we see what we are told to see and we believe/accept it without ever questioning...
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...Sampson Professor Scheck Phil 201 February 18th, 2016 Essay There are many similarities to be found between the Matrix movie and the writings of Pluto. Both deal with the way in which we all see the reality in which we live. Is it real? Is it false? How do we know that our minds and our eyes are not deceiving us? These stories give us a glimpse of something that may be true, something that we may have not even realized. They bring to life the possibility that we may be living a false reality. In the synopsis for the Matrix, a man named Neo begins to feel as though something is wrong with his life. When he meets Morpheus and accepts the red pill that he is given, he begins to see that the world he knows is nothing but an illusion. A cleverly put together scenario in which the human race lies unconscious in giant machines meant to keep them alive while the cables connected to their brains play out a simulated false reality. Pluto’s Allegory of The Cave conveys a similar message. His scenario describes men who have spent their whole lives chained at the neck and legs inside of a cave, only able to look forward, never being able to turn their heads in any other direction. Men chained to a false reality would be the common theme between these two stories. The cables connected to the giant machines in the Matrix are the modern day neck and leg chains of Plato’s The Cave. The characters in each story are taught to only see their world from one view. Of course they did not question...
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...7, 2014 Essay After reading these pieces I concluded that the central theme is being awaken from a false reality but each piece differs in the action that follow the awakening. The Matrix is set in a futuristic setting, where the theory of being controlled by a massive computer is a real possibility. What I find most interesting is that Plato actually describes the concept of The Matrix, almost as if Plato’s dialogue was used an inspiration. In The Matrix and Plato’s dialogue, humans are not physically living the life they perceive as “real” but are stationary beings who are forced to live a false reality prescribe to them. This is where René Descartes’ excerpt differs from the previously mentioned. The person is aware of possibility that what he knows as true could be false, that how could we know if what we are living is done consciously or if our existence is but a dream. All of the excerpts also rely on the reasoning that the mind is the sole contributor of our existence and our physical senses only respond to what the mind knows. The differences in the readings is based on the actions or possible outcomes that occur once the awakening has taken place. In The Matrix, Neo decides to act and decides to embark on a journey to discover reality not being controlled by a computer. Plato’s dialogue is different because this is based on a hypothetically theory, so while there is no physically action the questions lies in how would people respond to the truth. Would man continue...
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...The Illusion of Reality: A Comparison of The Matrix and Plato’s Cave The poet Thomas Gray coined the phrase “Ignorance is bliss.” The phrase states that a lack of knowledge results in happiness and that people are more comfortable if they don’t know something. We can apply this phrase to utopias and dystopias and get this scenario: imagine living in a utopic society isolated from the true dystopic world. Would you want to know that you are living a false life and that the true world around you has been hidden? If you had this information, how would you react? This scenario is the basic premise for the Wachowski brother’s The Matrix Trilogy and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Both stories show humans perceiving a false utopic society that is being used to blind them from the true dystopic world. Over the course of this paper I will describe the similarities between The Matrix and the Allegory of the Cave and analyze how the Wachowskis and Plato used the ideas of utopias and dystopias as a backdrop for showing human nature. In The Matrix, humans have been enslaved by sentient machines, or sentinels, to be used as energy sources. In order to subdue the human population, the sentinels built a virtual world known as the Matrix. What each person thinks is reality, is actually a complex computer simulation. The Matrix simulates a “utopic” world where humans believe that they have freedom and choice and that their actions have a consequence on this “real” world. In reality, the...
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...Allegory, Descartes and The Matrix While in the reality of his world, the main character of The Matrix, Neo finds himself doubting what really is and really isn’t. The writers of The Matrix did an excellent job of drawing similarities to that of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and Descartes’s Philosophical ideas. There are many similarities between the Allegory as well as to the Philosophical differences to The Matrix. The first major similarity that I noticed between the Allegory and The Matrix is the fact that both Neo and the character in Plato’s work had a feeling that something was not right. The both seemed to want to gain a deeper knowledge of the world around them and believed the world was not all it seemed but that it was more than what it seemed. They believed there was a deeper meaning to what was around them. They both accepted this and began the search for deeper meaning. This allowed both Neo and the slave to understand that they are not really in control of their world. At any moment something could change. In Neo’s case the computer programmer could change a code and have a building fall on him or possibly make someone disappear from his life. In the slaves case his life, since he was born, was ran by the farmers that he worked for within the cave. Their lives are very similar. Neo, even though he did not realize it was in the same position as the slave. He was a slave himself. The differences between The Allegory and The Matrix are few and subtle but none...
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... 2 Question One Compare and contrast The Matrix with the readings from Plato and Descartes. What are some similarities and differences? The Matrix describes a fictitious possibility of a virtual existence of the world and especially the world’s human population, unbeknownst by the majority of people involved in the virtual reality known as the Matrix. Certain players in the Matrix scenario are awakened to the proposition that perhaps their life experience is an orchestrated delusion, set into motion by certain governing powers, in an attempt to obtain and maintain absolute control upon the masses. An important character in the Matrix named, Morpheus, brings the deceptive virtual reality to the attention of other participants in the Matrix, in an effort to help awaken them to the real truth of their existence. It is discovered that rather than the daily life experience and existence of the population of the world, the people are actually unconscious of the absolute reality that they are all in a clinical state of suspended animation. This virtual reality of the Matrix overrides their normal flesh and blood existence by way of computer programming. The discovery of the Matrix false reality is so overwhelming that some individuals participate in rebellion against the Matrix, and others are disturbed by the discovery to such a degree that they choose to be assimilated in the Matrix....
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...The common theme from all three readings is identifying if what we know to be true to be the actual truth. Is our reality real? How can we be sure that what we know as the truth to be the actual truth? In the Matrix, we see Neo, a computer programmer by trade and a computer hacker by night. When Morpheus comes in contact with Neo he offers Neo a choice to take the “red pill” and discover the truth or to continue his life blind of the truth. Neo takes the “red pill” and sees that in reality the entire human race is lying unconscious hooked up to a giant computer, living their lives virtually through a software program called “The Matrix”. Neo discovers that everything he has ever known was a lie. In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” we see Socrates discussing with Glaucon a hypothetical situation where some people are prisoners in a cave. They are positioned so they cannot move their bodies or their heads. All they can see are images on a wall and all they can hear are echoes. To them it is their reality, it is all they know but the truth is, that it is all an illusion. In the Matrix, Neo chooses to be set free of his illusion but is burdened by the truth. We see Neo go through some negative emotions. In Plato’s writing, a man is set free of his prison and after discovering what was ultimately the source of his deception (the sun) he is ultimately happy that he is finally free. It didn’t matter to him that what he knew was all a lie; just that he was finally free. ...
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