In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato embodied a metaphor that compares the way in which we see and believe is actual reality. He creates a cave where prisoners are chained down and are forced to stare at the dark wall in front of them. They are sheltered from any light. You can also perceive this in a different sense, for example all that they see in the world is darkness and that they do not know the difference between what is real and what they consider as “real.” “Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of…
There is another similarity between Plato’s allegory and the Matrix. In Plato’s story the prisoner is assisted by a man who like Morpheus with…
Focusing specifically on The Allegory of the Cave and The Matrix, there are many similarities between the questionable perceptions described in each story. In The Allegory of the Cave, Socrates paints a picture of a group of prisoners that have been confined to a dark…
Thesis: There are many similarities in the Matrix ( Wachowski, Andy, and Lana Wachowski 1999 ), The Allegory of the Cave ( Plato ) and Meditation I of The Things of Which We May Doubt ( Decartes, 1641 ). It appears as you take a close look at the Matrix that it is a retelling of “The Allegory of the Cave” with elements of “Meditation I of the Things of Which We May Doubt” in it as well.…
The very few differences between these two works include the fact that the Matrix has no forms while the Allegory of the Cave does. Also, unlike Plato’s prisoner, who manages to find his way out of the cave without any help from others, Neo is helped out by Morpheus.…
Deception is the foundational issue prevalent in The Matrix, Plato’s allegory of the cave, and Rene Descartes meditations. In each of these excerpts the goal of answering the question of what is real and how to uncover the truth is essential. Another question that arises throughout all three excerpts is whether or not the individuals will be able to handle the truth when it is finally learnt. In The Matrix Morpheus reveals to Neo that the life he had previously accepted as an absolute reality is really a virtual reality that is manipulated by a computer which is essentially controlling the mind of every individual as they lie unconscious connected to this computer system. After taking the “red pill” that allows Neo to uncover the truth, he is no longer blinded by this virtual reality. While one may assume Neo would be grateful to be free of this kind of deception, he alternatively experiences a plethora of emotions such as denial, fear, and confusion. After some reflection on these events, Neo finally accepts the truth, but feels burdened by it.…
The most obvious similarity between the movie The Matrix, the cave analogy of Plato, and Descartes’ Meditation, is that all of these works doubt the reality of the world around us and call into question the validity of our sense perceptions. “Let us suppose,” says Descartes, “that we are dreaming, and that all these particulars – namely, the opening of the eyes, the motion of the head, the forth-putting of the hands – are merely illusions” (Descartes, 1641, Meditations on First Philosophy). Likewise Plato proposed an interesting hypothetical situation of a cave where men lay bound up in chains, able only to perceive the shadows of figures on the walls as they passed by. Plato concluded that “in every way such prisoners would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of the artificial objects” (Plato, 514 – 518, The Republic, Book VII). In the 1999 movie The Matrix, a giant computer system has taken over the earth and controls all of humanity’s minds in a virtual reality world. “What is the Matrix? Control. The Matrix is a computer-generated dream world built to keep us under control” (“Orpheus”, The Matrix, Wachowski, 1999). Thus, all three of these sources are asking important questions about our reality; is the world that we perceive as reality actually real? Or is it all simply a dream or a hoax conjured up by some Being who is having a good laugh at our expense? And how do we know for sure? Plato, Descartes, and the makers of The Matrix propose situations in which our minds are being controlled by something outside of ourselves, (whether it be a computer, shadows on a cave wall, or an invisible demon,) that determines what we perceive to be real.…
We are all too focused on how celebrities are or what one person says, then we run to try to be like them. Our society believes whatever it sees on the internet or hears on the television. There are also stereotypes like race and groups we tend to believe is the right way. Our society will tell us how bad or good and that’s when we believe what we see is going on. As you can tell the prisoners in the cave watching shadows on the wall relate to us today in many ways. The film The Matrix has many similar things as in Plato’s Allegory. While watching The Matrix I could put together how Plato’s Allegory represents in many ways. Neo lives in the world controlled by the agents and it is similar as the controller of the prisoners. Then they both get to learn how the real world actually is. Neo was basically controlled by the Matrix because he didn’t know and better. As the prisoners were in a prison and seeing the shadows they didn’t know what was the truth either. The cave is basically the Matrix in the movie they symbolize each other a…
One lives in a prison that is unknown to the common eye. In The Matrix as well as in the Allegory of the cave, state a similar meaning of one living in a world with a greater truth. Both The Allegory by Plato and the Matrix, speake and argue about a prison, a prison within our life and our world that one does not know of. Similarities are drawn between both the story and the movie. It gives one an idea of what Plato stated in his philosophical allegory in a more modern time, compare to the year Plato wrote the allegory.…
|Existence |Making or actions conform to our |Thought, Appearance and reality |Substance and accidents, Matter|…
What if the world everyone perceives as a reality is only an elaborate deception? Human beings believe they are living in realities because they do not know of anything else. What they feel, see, hear, taste, and feel all contribute to their subconscious belief of physical existence. As people dream, however, they usually cannot recognize that they are not living through the events—that is, until they wake up. What if they do not wake up? How would they know the difference between their false perceptions and reality? The Ancient Greek philosopher Plato explores this concept within an example he uses in his work The Republic. In his example, known as the “Allegory of the Cave”, Plato uses an allegorical cave to show how humans are uncomfortable when exposed to the truth and that they are manipulated by higher authorities. In their 1999 motion picture The Matrix, the Wachowski brothers use a computer program to display similar ideals of Plato's allegory, including how humans are controlled and negatively react to the truth. Plato's “Allegory of the Cave” serves as a philosophical basis to The Matrix, as both works suggest that humans express discomfort while exposed to truth and both argue that people are controlled by higher authorities.…
In conclusion after watching the matrix I believe that the Matrix answered the question to “what is real”? More than Plato’s book Allegory of the cave because in the matrix you have two different worlds you can choose from the real world and the virtual world. It makes it easier to decide what is real when there are two different worlds to choose from and giving the prospective on what is going on. Another reason why I believe the Matrix and Alice in wonderland answered the question of “what is real?” Is that this movie is more modern compare to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave the movie shows more emotion from the character from the movie it kind of makes you think if the world we are living in is real or not. knowing that our technology is advancing…
Where the matrix resembles these writings greatly it seems it was more inspired than thought of by the creators. Plato uses prisoners who have been chained all of their lives and can only see shadows from the light that reflects from the fire. But explains that when they are first allowed out of the cave they feel physical pain from the new movement and the brightness of the sun. And when they first ascend from the cave they will quickly want to return to it because they don’t believe that what they are experiencing is real it is…
The Matrix and Philosophy Welcome to the Desert of the Real Edited by WILLIAM IRWIN For Peter H. Hare, Morpheus to many Contents Introduction: Meditations on The Matrix 1 Scene 1 How Do You Know? 3 1. 2.…
The Allegory of the Cave and The Matrix has four types of styles of thinking which were: fantasy thinking, scientific thinking, mathematical thinking, and dialectic thinking. We see those different types of thinking in the articles where in The Allegory of the Cave it discusses where Socrates was speaking about the different puppet shows and how the shadows are casted from the fire on the walls of the cave. Then in The Matrix those types of thinking falls in place to fantasy and scientific thinking to how things were in viewing how different lives stages thru The…