The Matrix, By Gregory Bassham Essay

Descartes wonders what else that he can know by using this same logic, but first must establish the idea of God and that God is not deceiving him. He reasons that God exists because he as a mortal could not create the idea of such a powerful being, and only a being as powerful as God could have caused an idea of a God that is perfect. Descartes goes on to reason that because God is perfect, then God would not deceive him about anything. It’s not that Descartes is being deceived, but rather his lack of knowledge or understanding about the matters at hand is causing the problem he is facing.

John Berger, in his non-fiction work, “Ways of Seeing” (1972), asserts that art is a representation of history and it has been manipulated by the ruling class for control of the lower-class. Berger supports his assertion by showing examples of historical paintings that were commissioned by the higher-class to show favor towards them instead of the true representation of history, thus “A person or a class which is cut off from its own past is far less free to choose and to act as a people or class than one that has been able to situate itself in history” (Berger 33). His purpose is to make his reader aware of the manipulation that has been done to the lower-class viewer on what has been taken away from them in order to control the populist to deter rebellion. In the Wachoski siblings film, The Matrix (1999) centers around the concept that one’s reality may be distorted from what is real. The Matrix is about the human race living in a artificial reality ignorant of their true existence and their oppression by the machines. John Berger asserts in “Ways of Seeing” that art is a representation of history and it has been manipulated by the ruling class for control of the lower-class, in the film the Matrix, the agents of the matrix are controlling society by manipulation of the innocent, they exercises control by mystification similar to Berger’s assessment of the art historian.

In “Bad Dreams, Evil Demons, and the Experience Machine: Philosophy and The Matrix”, Christopher Grau analyzes Rene Descartes argument concerning reality. The argument starts on page 181 in the bottom left hand corner of the page and continues onto page 182, ending at the bottom right corner of the page. In this text, Grau explains Descartes argument that what one may interpret as reality may not be more than a figment of their imagination and then uses it to develop his own argument. Grau explains that you cannot know whether you are in the dream world or the real world, and therefore argues that we cannot be sure that our beliefs about the world are true.

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.

When the film The Matrix debuted in 1999, it was an instant box office success that captivated many viewers. However throughout the featured famed actors, costumes, special effects and fight scenes, many viewers failed to notice the philosophical issues. Plato and Descartes, just like the characters in the movie are faced and driven to extreme measures to understand the world around them. They are compelled to seek knowledge in understanding what is real, evaluating the mind-body problem, and are left wondering if there is any good. These philosophical features of the movie have raised questions and have made it an interesting film to watch. While many viewers can agree that The Matrix is highly action packed, not all can truly appreciate

The Matrix is the war between man and machine, and the possibility that reality is a deception. In a sense, the Matrix is a constant struggle of identity and reality. This struggle of identity and reality is based around the character of Thomas Anderson, an ordinary person living a mundane life.

The movie, “The Matrix” is an outstanding example of the term “Marxism”. Simply put, Marxism is the political and economic theory of Marx, advocating abolition of private property, and state provision of work and subsistence for all, and to be a Marxist, is to follow Karl Marx’s theories. Along the lines of Marx’s theories; a reality and way of life in the Matrix is maintained, oppressed, discovered, and eventually explained. Marx advocates a violent change, and The Matrix demonstrates this type of propaganda. The character Trinity sets the tone from the very start with her defying antics, and Neo’s role is realized; as this reality that is the Matrix is explained. The Wachowski brothers’ film, The Matrix, easily lends itself to a Marxist

The Matrix, released in 1999, is a science fiction action film that depicts a dystopian future. In this reality, what is perceived by humans is only a computer simulated reality called ‘The Matrix’ which was created in order to sustain human delusion while their bodies were used as an energy source by machines. The main character, computer hacker Neo (played by Keanu Reeves, respectively) is drawn into rebellion against the machines once he is united with those that have been freed from the false reality. The characters, suffering from the reality of a broken illusion, make specific choices and decisions which can be explained or validated by sociological perspectives discussed by Berger. First off, ‘The Matrix’ can be defined as a social institution with the ability to give those that live within the false reality a fulfilled existence and exert social control over it’s residing victims. Second, the betrayal of Cypher touches upon the concept of sociological knowledge; specifically, the reference group ideology. Lastly, Neo’s previous feelings of unease and change of character after he joins Morpheus’ rebellion shows the importance a reference group can have on the overall personality and ideology of a person. Therefore, the Sociological Perspective understands the personalities, actions, and story of the movie ‘The Matrix’ in a variety of ways.

Imagine 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” written and directed by the Wachowski brothers. They are given false images and they accept what their senses are telling them, and they believe what they are experiencing is 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. His true reality is being controlled by the puppet- handlers called the machines who

There are times when a movie is made that is said to have themes that are parallel to themes in various religious cultures; the Matrix, written and directed by The Wachowski Brothers, is one of those movies. The Matrix series eventually ended in a Trilogy with fans stating that there were various religious connections throughout all three movies. For the purpose of this reflection I will be focusing on the original Matrix movie. I will also focus mostly on the Christian religious ties that are sprinkled throughout the first movie. Finally, I will explore the idea that Neo, is represented as a savior of sorts and how this can tie into saviors of any religion.

In “The Matrix as Metaphysics,” David Chalmers, contemporary philosopher of mind, illustrates how the Cartesian “Brain in a Vat” fable (interchangeable with Descartes own “Evil Devil”) , used as an epistemological thought experiment, treads in the field of metaphysics rather than epistemology. Chalmers argues that, even if man’s world is dictated by these brains in vats, even if man’s world was ruled by an evil devil who purposely deceives their perceptions, man has largely correct beliefs about the world. This idea, however, defies Descartes original intention of the thought experiment being skeptical. So, how does Chalmers make a skeptical and, therefore, an epistemological argument one that is metaphysical instead? To make such a claim, Chalmers first substitutes the “Brain in a Vat” hypothesis with, what he calls, the Matrix hypothesis. The two hypotheses are practically equivalent, the only differences being that the Matrix hypothesis predicts a virtual, computerized world rather than the imaginary world which the “Brain in the Vat” hypothesis predicts. After this substitution, Chalmers goes on to argue that, if man is computerized, then there may be some creator, outside of their spacetime, who built said computer (Creation Hypothesis). He then says that, if man’s world is computerized, then, under all its physical processes lie computer code which accounts for those processes (Computational Hypothesis). Chalmers follows up by saying that, if man is computerized,

     I’m sitting in a chair, talking to a man that I’ve wanted to know for a long time. His name is Morpheus; I know that he knows more than I do about the world and how it works. Now it’s my turn, in each of his hand’s there is a pill, in one there’s a red pill and in the other a blue pill. The red pill will have me further my knowledge and the true nature of things will be revealed. The blue pill stops any further knowledge and my perception of things will remain unchanged. I take the red pill. Why do I take the red pill?

There are a lot of appealing and enchanting aspects of The Matrix that bring about discussions, arguments, as well as debates over what the producers, directors and writers meant by a specific scene, certain lines in the movie, and characters. Some of the mysterious and hidden meaning is not that difficult to find - other materials are concealed and buried so deeply or only briefly was said about it, now some people may not like that, but most of the fun is coming up with different ideas on what’s about to happen

The Allegory of the Cave by Plato illustrates a classic story of ignorance and enlightenment. The ancient text puts forth symbols of self-awareness and higher knowledge to show the different stages of enlightenment needed to see true reality. Men are prisoners in a cave and have never seen the light of day. They only see the wall of the cave and the shadows cast onto it. One of the men becomes free and leaves the cave to experience the outside world. At first, the man does not understand this new world because for his whole life the cave wall had been his reality. He eventually becomes enlightened when he is forced to see the sun, which is a symbol of enlightenment. Similar tropes are later used to tell a story that questions reality in the movie, The Matrix. In The Matrix, The main character, Neo, discovers that the world he thought was real was nothing more than a computer simulation. Neo is pulled from this false reality and shown the true world. Neo must overcome his disbelief and learn to accept the new reality laid out before him. The man in The Allegory must also learn to accept a truer reality. The Matrix and The Allegory of the Cave share many similarities in their plot, symbols, and characters, but also have several differences.