Comparing Plato, Descartes, And The Matrix
Melissa A. Reeves
Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix Essay
02/14/2014
Phil 201-B15
Liberty University Professor Ronald Kuykendall
In comparing the movie The Matrix and the readings from Plato and Descartes, the major similarity found among the three is deception. It is the deception of the mind that these excerpts deal with. The idea of being in an illusion or reality is addressed. All three take into account sense perceptions. Also, all three have an outside influence that is controlling the mind that is forming the illusion, whether it be a computer, a shadow, or a demon.
In The Matrix, Neo is asked by Morpheus to choose between the red pill and the blue pill. Neo ultimately chooses the red pill to follow Morpheus. In taking the red pill, Neo leaves his existence in the matrix, which is a machine generated computer world, to join the “real” world. Neo is then forced to deal with the fact that the world he’d know his whole existence was just an illusion. Morpheus has to explain to Neo that normally they would not free a mind at …show more content…
an older age because the person has a harder time understanding. Morpheus also informs Neo that the body cannot live without the mind. The mind held onto the deception of the matrix put in place by the machines and that freeing the mind of that illusion is a dangerous thing. He sees things through a new light and even mentions a restaurant that he used to eat at that had good noodles when they go back into the matrix. Even though Neo is initially confused by his new reality aboard the ship Nebuchadnezzar and at Zion, he eventually finds knowing the truth is better than the illusion of the matrix and gains power in that knowledge.
In the excerpt from Plato, this is also about being in reality or an illusion. In both The Matrix and in the excerpt from Plato, the question of which reality is real to the person is taken into account. In the excerpt Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave, Socrates and Glaucon discuss the man just seeing shadows and hearing echoes and then believing that was reality. The man would know nothing different unless freed from his surroundings. When the man was freed from bondage, he saw things he had never seen before. Socrates then asks Glaucon if the man would be happy and pity the men left behind and he replied, ”He would indeed.” (Plato, 514 – 518, The Republic, Book VII).
The excerpt from Descartes is similar to The Matrix and the Plato excerpt because it also discusses being in a dream state (illusion) or reality.
The Matrix uses Descartes dream argument as a basis for the format of the movie. Descartes finds fault with evidence given to us by our senses, which is shown in the movie. Neo trusted his senses when in the matrix because his eyes and ears and nose told him to. The major difference between them is that Plato and Descartes take into question the new reality and that it might never occur because they are both hypothetical. Plato and Descartes make the point that the way we sense and perceive all things can be false, even the “real” reality. The difference is in the movie, The Matrix, it actually follows through with Neo making his way to the real reality and the validity of the reality is not questioned. The movie does not question whether both the matrix and reality are real
realities.
In conclusion, they are all very similar in addressing what is reality by addressing the illusion as well. The difference is that The Matrix shows that there is an alternate “real” reality. Plato and Descartes say all reality may be an illusion, like being on a continual loop of an illusion. How do we know for sure what is an illusion or what is reality?
References
Descartes, René. Meditation I of the Things Which We May Doubt. Excerpt from Meditations on First Philosophy. 1641 C.E.
Plato. The Allegory of the Cave. Excerpt from The Republic. Book VII. c. 514 - 518 B.C.E.
Wachowski, Andy, and Lana Wachowski. The Matrix. Directed by Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski. Los Angeles: Warner Bros. Pictures, 1999.
Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix Essay
02/14/2014
Phil 201-B15
Liberty University Professor Ronald Kuykendall
In comparing the movie The Matrix and the readings from Plato and Descartes, the major similarity found among the three is deception. It is the deception of the mind that these excerpts deal with. The idea of being in an illusion or reality is addressed. All three take into account sense perceptions. Also, all three have an outside influence that is controlling the mind that is forming the illusion, whether it be a computer, a shadow, or a demon.
In The Matrix, Neo is asked by Morpheus to choose between the red pill and the blue pill. Neo ultimately chooses the red pill to follow Morpheus. In taking the red pill, Neo leaves his existence in the matrix, which is a machine generated computer world, to join the “real” world. Neo is then forced to deal with the fact that the world he’d know his whole existence was just an illusion. Morpheus has to explain to Neo that normally they would not free a mind at …show more content…
an older age because the person has a harder time understanding. Morpheus also informs Neo that the body cannot live without the mind. The mind held onto the deception of the matrix put in place by the machines and that freeing the mind of that illusion is a dangerous thing. He sees things through a new light and even mentions a restaurant that he used to eat at that had good noodles when they go back into the matrix. Even though Neo is initially confused by his new reality aboard the ship Nebuchadnezzar and at Zion, he eventually finds knowing the truth is better than the illusion of the matrix and gains power in that knowledge.
In the excerpt from Plato, this is also about being in reality or an illusion. In both The Matrix and in the excerpt from Plato, the question of which reality is real to the person is taken into account. In the excerpt Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave, Socrates and Glaucon discuss the man just seeing shadows and hearing echoes and then believing that was reality. The man would know nothing different unless freed from his surroundings. When the man was freed from bondage, he saw things he had never seen before. Socrates then asks Glaucon if the man would be happy and pity the men left behind and he replied, ”He would indeed.” (Plato, 514 – 518, The Republic, Book VII).
The excerpt from Descartes is similar to The Matrix and the Plato excerpt because it also discusses being in a dream state (illusion) or reality.
The Matrix uses Descartes dream argument as a basis for the format of the movie. Descartes finds fault with evidence given to us by our senses, which is shown in the movie. Neo trusted his senses when in the matrix because his eyes and ears and nose told him to. The major difference between them is that Plato and Descartes take into question the new reality and that it might never occur because they are both hypothetical. Plato and Descartes make the point that the way we sense and perceive all things can be false, even the “real” reality. The difference is in the movie, The Matrix, it actually follows through with Neo making his way to the real reality and the validity of the reality is not questioned. The movie does not question whether both the matrix and reality are real
realities.
In conclusion, they are all very similar in addressing what is reality by addressing the illusion as well. The difference is that The Matrix shows that there is an alternate “real” reality. Plato and Descartes say all reality may be an illusion, like being on a continual loop of an illusion. How do we know for sure what is an illusion or what is reality?
References
Descartes, René. Meditation I of the Things Which We May Doubt. Excerpt from Meditations on First Philosophy. 1641 C.E.
Plato. The Allegory of the Cave. Excerpt from The Republic. Book VII. c. 514 - 518 B.C.E.
Wachowski, Andy, and Lana Wachowski. The Matrix. Directed by Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski. Los Angeles: Warner Bros. Pictures, 1999.