Comparing Plato's Cave Allegory And The Matrix

People are very ignorant towards homeless people, just how the prisoners are in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” to the outside world. Society seems to view the homeless as nasty, dirty people who are drug addicts when in reality a lot of them are just in very unfortunate situations that they can't get themselves out of. Just like the rich may view the poor and the educated may view the uneducated, people are quick to judge things that they are ignorant of. I know this based on first hand knowledge and experience about how it to be

The Matrix and the Allegory of the Cave focus on one central idea: What is real?. They engage the audience in a fictional world where people live in false realities without knowing it. They make us question our own knowledge. Their storylines connect in that the protagonist discovers that everything he knows is a big lie and now he must discover the truth. The protagonist is thrown all of the sudden into the real world and then, he continues to seek the absolute truth. Neo and the prisoner inquire whether knowing the truth is a blessing or a curse.

What if one were living through life completely bound and facing a reality that doesn't even exist? The prisoners in Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" are blind from true reality as well as the people in the movie The Matrix. They are given false images and they accept what their senses are telling them. They believe what they are experiencing is not all that really exists. Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher wrote "The Allegory of the Cave," to explain the process of enlightenment and what true reality may be. In the movie The Matrix, Neo (the main character) was born into a world of illusions called the Matrix.

Having read the synopsis from The Matrix, the excerpt from Plato, The Republic, Book VII, 514A1-518D8 “The Allegory Of The Cave”, and the excerpt from Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, 1641 “Meditation I Of The Things Of Which We May Doubt”, I am able to conclude that there are similarities as well as differences among these readings. Each question the state of reality in which we live. Is our reality a true state of reality or is it a state of mind we have allowed ourselves to exist in?

In the movie, Neo takes a huge risk by saving Morpheus. After Neo saves Trinity from falling down the building and faces Morpheus, he mentions what the Oracle says “Sorry kiddo. You got the gift, but it looks like you are waiting for something. Your next life maybe, who knows? That's the way these things go.”(Matrix). The Oracle tells Neo that he is not the one. When Neo tries to mention what the Oracle said, Morpheus quickly interrupts him and says, “She told you exactly what you needed to hear, that's all. Neo, sooner or later you're going to realize, just as I did, there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”(Matrix). Neo does not believe he is the one but Morpheus reminds Neo what he is capable of by praising him

What is real and what do we really know? These are common questions that everyone asks sometime in their lives. These questions date back since man was made. Nobody knows 100% what happens to us when we die, or what our purpose is in life. Humans have a natural instinct to raise questions to material that we are uncertain of. The movie The Matrix, Descartes First Meditation, and Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave all raise different aspects to questions such as do I exist, what is reality, and how do I know?

In the movie The Matrix we find a character by the name of Neo and his struggle adapting to the truth...to reality. This story is closely similar to an ancient Greek text written by Plato called "The Allegory of the Cave." Now both stories are different but the ideas are basically the same. Both Stories have key points that can be analyzed and related to one another almost exactly. There is no doubt that The Matrix was based off Greek philosophy. The idea of freeing your mind or soul as even stated in "The Allegory of the Cave" is a well known idea connecting to Greek philosophy. The Matrix is more futuristic and scientific than "The Cave" but it's the same Idea. Neo is

Much like Neo from The Matrix, this man chose to briefly continue believing the lie, since it was more familiar. Eventually this man begins to accept this new reality by placing the knowledge of what he now knows to be true about the shadows and reflections and builds upon these facts until he reaches the principle that the sun, the very thing he previously discounted as artificial, was in fact genuine and in a sense responsible for most of his deception inside of the cave. Finally, Socrates claims this man would feel joy now that he is completely liberated from deception and has sympathy or the other’s that are still living in a false reality. This is where The Matrix and Plato’s allegory are somewhat dissimilar. While Socrates characterizes the liberated man in high spirits, Neo does not demonstrate this same pleasure after learning the truth.

Many questions may come to mind when one seeks to understand life and mankind presence. What can I possibly find out? What is real or facts? Are we able to determine reality? For one to answer these question would be quite challenging. However, the matrix, Plato’s The Allegory of Cave, and Discartes’ “Meditation I” shares their understanding of how one can determine reality.

The thought that humans cannot prove the validity of their own reality has intrigued the minds of philosophers for hundreds of years. Many have tried to understand and explain how we can truly know what is real. The Matrix, Descartes’s Meditations of the Things of Which We May Doubt, and Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave, are all works that address this issue. They have many similarities that tie them together, and yet they all approach the issue of reality from a different angle. When reading and comparing these works, one may ask the question, “Can we prove that what we are experiencing is really true?”

Total Recall and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave both play with the same concepts of reality. In the movie Total Recall, Douglas Quaid, who is played by Colin Farrell, is living a mediocre life, which is a life as a grunt at a police robot factory for the Police. The colony is under the control of a government dictatorship known as the United Federation of Britain whose leader is known as Chancellor Vilos Cohaagen, who is played by Bryan Cranston.

Sam Crooks Dr. White History 105 9/23/14 Parallels between Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and The Matrix Although one comes from ancient times and the other the 20th century, there are a number of parallels between Plato’s ancient work Allegory of the Cave and the modern science fiction film The Matrix. Plato’s work tells the story of a prisoner forced to reside in a cave while The Matrix shows a paralleled version in which a man is a prisoner in a computer programmed world. One major similarity between the two stories is the basis that the two protagonists live in a world of illusion and they must break free to gain a sense of reality. Another parallel is that breaking free of the illusion and accepting the truth of the situation are not always easy feats.

The Matrix and Plato's Allegory of the Cave Both the Matrix together with the Allegory of the Cave; which is attributed to Plato alternates about a similar paranormal inquiry, "what is genuine? " The two works possess several similar characteristics as opposed to dissimilarities. For instance, in the Matrix, the principal personality who is Neo is enthralled in a deceitful reality that is choreographed by computer software program. This is the program that was contrived by the systems that claimed total subdue over the planet. While in the Plato's Allegory, a captive is able to fathom the veracity of the fastener together with a sincere one out of the cavern.

The Matrix Philosophy can be said to “go beyond our ordinary, unreflective awareness of things…attempting to arrive at a critical standpoint which will enable us to discard what is confused, and to supply a solid rational justification for what is retained” (Cottingham, 2). Through the study of philosophy, we are able to question our beliefs and what seems to be real and what really is real. Philosophical ideas can be seen in many aspects of our lives, even in movies. In the movie, The Matrix, philosophical ideas and themes can be seen. The Matrix is a computer generated dream world that was built to keep its people under control and change a human being.

Plato once said that, “Ignorance [is] the root and stem of all evil”. Ignorance is the cause of everything that is wrong and bad in the world since people are unable to see the truth. If people start breaking free from ignorance, mankind will become happier and more transparent. In the short story, “Allegory of The Cave” by Plato and The Matrix by the Wachowskis, they portray the idea that in order to gain enlightenment, one must break free from ignorance; which opens himself to knowledge; this new truth must then be shared with others for the good of mankind.