The Matrix: What It Is To Be Human?

Plato, Descartes, and 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?

Nature of Reality in The Matrix from Three Philosophical Points of View The Matrix script has a complex symbolic storyline, with apparent philosophical allusions, and is full of elements and clues that could provide the reader with multiple interpretations. However, beneath this complex layered structure, its underlying main theme is about the nature of reality. In this essay, we study three of the most noticeable philosophical references in The Matrix: Plato’s allegory of the cave, Descartes’ mind-body problem, and Baudrillard’s simulation theory. For each of these philosophical ideas; first we draw parallels between the script and the idea, and then we examine to what extent The Matrix accurately reflects the idea and stays loyal to its conclusion.

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.

In the documentary Return to Source: Philosophy & 'The Matrix' by Josh Oreck the director analyzes The Matrix and points out the philosophical and religious concepts that are presented in The Matrix. The film informs the audience about philosophical assumptions that human beings use to question life. The film compares

Neo’s true reality is being controlled by the In The Matrix the puppet-handlers and the machines spawned from a singular consciousness called A.I. (artificial intelligence). In both The Matrix and "Allegory of the Cave," the puppeteers have created artificial surroundings as a way to control and operate the information the prisoners receive. Plato also stated that eventually one of the more intellectual prisoners would break free from the cave and into the outside world.

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.

Jack Bate George Berkeley and the external world In 1999, Larry and Andy Wachowski directed The Matrix, a movie featuring the future in which reality as perceived by most humans is actually a simulated reality or cyberspace called "the Matrix”. This fake reality was created by sentient machines to pacify and subdue the human population. To some, this movie represents just another brilliant Hollywood sci-fi action film, but for others, it challenges the understanding of perspective, reality and appearance ("The matrix 101," 2003). The Matrix heavily relies on the concepts of Irish Philosopher George Berkeley who believed reality, or reality as humans perceive it, is fundamentally mental and therefore immaterial which is known as Idealism.

Watching the film ‘The Matrix,’ it is natural to question whether the world we live in is real or not. Neo, the hero, comes to know that the world he lives in is not real thanks to Morpheus. In the future world, the computer rules humans, who are, in turn, born to grow in an incubator. Further, human cerebral nerves are connected to a computer networks, which implies men cannot help living in another incubator till death although they cannot recognize they live in the incubator. Plato’s allegory of the cave is analogous to the story line found in ‘The Matrix.’ People live in a cave, looking at their shadows reflected on the cave wall. They never realize they are in a cave. Plato’s allegory of the cave assumes key words leading the story

I. Introduction A. Overview of “The Cave” B. Overview of “Meditation” C. Overview of “Matrix” II. Comparisons A. 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.

The Matrix and The Oasis are—in a sense—the same. These two worlds are both a huge lie and an escape to many people. But, they have some essential differences. These differences provide an interesting contrast between The Matrix and The Oasis. The three main differences include: ignorance and the choice

Matrix the Movie and The Lathe of Heaven The world is not always what you think it is. Things change or can appear to be different than what you originally thought them to be. So are the worlds in the Matrix and the novel The Lathe of Heaven. What you thought

The earth has been decimated due to a battle for control of the earth between the AI's and humans; the Matrix camouflages this decimation. Humans are artificially created and sustained by the AI superstructure. Then

I perceived the world to be real only a week ago. The world I was living in seemed right, seemed real, but my perception was clouded by the Matrix. What I thought was a class at college, a school in rural Tennessee was actually a simulation controlled by a super computer. Perception, the way one organizes, gives meaning to and manufactures recognition of everything and anything (Gray & Wegner, 2012). We perceive things differently, everyone sees, hears and senses the world differently by giving things different latent constructs. My perception is plagued by the falsities provided by the Matrix, where I question what my actual previous knowledge is and what is my simulated knowledge, or is it the same (Matlin, 2013)? My interpretation, after reading about the computer processing system that controlled my mind and other sources on perception through old books, is that I am able to read and write because I learned how to recognize the patterns that make up each letter, word, and slash that creates each word in my lexicon, otherwise known as my vocabulary. Whether this was taught by the forces at hand or

The Matrix is a film directed by the Wachowski Brothers depicting a future in which machines rule. The machines have created a complex computer program called “the matrix” which simulates a form of reality. The machines have enslaved humans by hooking them up to the matrix so that they can

Since most modern human experience is constructed, there is almost nothing to separate us form the machines we create.