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Interesting Questions and Dilemmas Raised in the Film Series, The Matrix Trilogy

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The film series, The Matrix Trilogy, raises many interesting dilemmas and questions for humans and especially for philosophers. Julia Driver was intrigued to analyze the issue of morality and immorality in an environment that does not accurately reflect reality while Hubert and Stephen Dreyfus were interested in deciphering which world is a more preferable habitat for human being; a real one or a virtual one? The following will attempt to explain the previous questions using reference to the first film and response articles by both Driver and Dreyfus and Dreyfus. Driver’s main argument in regards to possessing morality appears to be the presence of consciousness, sentience, and rationality (Driver, N.D., p. 3). In order to have …show more content…

Being rational requires one to behave in such a manner that reflects emphasis on logic and common sense rather than emotions (). Near the end of the film, the agents make a rational decision to flee after Neo inhabits agent Smith’s body as they realize that they will be unable to defeat him armed with what they had at that moment (Wachowski, 1999). However, it is important to note the underlying emotions here as well. The agents were evidently scared when they took off running so it is clear that emotions played a key factor in their decision to run but the logical realization that they would most likely be defeated by him was also a factor. It is unrealistic to imagine that emotions never influence human behaviours but in this case, it is imperative that logic trumps emotion. Since the computer generated beings display the characteristics of consciousness, sentience, and rationality, it can be hypothesized that they do indeed have moral status. The second area of reflection brought up by Driver is the notion of immorality existing in a virtual reality. The debate regarding this question is around the notion of consequences. Some writers believe that morality and immorality only exist when there are actual repercussions of the action (Driver, N.D., pp. 6-7). If this is true, then many of the actions completed by people in the Matrix cannot be deemed moral or immoral because they do not reproduce

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