Cartesian and Platonic Philosophical Themes in The Matrix Essay
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This essay will examine the philosophical questions raised in the movie The Matrix. It will step through how the questions from the movie directly relate to both skepticism and the mind-body problem, and further how similarly those problems look to concepts raised by both Descartes’ and Plato’s philosophies. It will attempt to show that many of the questions raised in the movie are metaphor for concepts from each philosopher’s works, and why those concepts are important in relation to how they are presented in the film. In this analysis, we will examine the questions of skepticism and the mind-body problem separately. Part one will examine how the film broached the subject of skepticism, and in doing so how it ties in to…show more content… Simply put, the Matrix represent a system of complete and utter deception and cradle to grave control of those minds trapped within, all sharing the computer generated complex illusion. The Matrix as the evil genius or malicious demon should not be difficult to grasp. The parallels are there, near the surface, as Descartes surmises that an all-powerful malevolent entity has focused all its energies on to him to deceive him on every level of his existence (Descartes, 49). The Matrix as a system represents that very concept; as it can change the layout of buildings and the nature of things inside the Matrix within on a whim, it can manipulate events to influence the outcome of all of the lives contained inside, and that it shows one what it wants one to see in order to hide the fact that they are all just dreamers trapped in capsules full of goo with cables hooked to every nerve bundle tying the subjects nervous systems to the false reality of the Matrix (Sanders, 215). References to the Cave are not very deep below the surface either, perhaps more prevalent than the hints of Descartes. At the same time that the Matrix is