A Matter of Perception Phil 201
Thomas Gilmer
Phil 201
Essay
6/11/13
A Matter of Perception
“How often have I dreamt that I was in these familiar circumstances that I was dressed, and occupied this place by the fire, when I was lying undressed in bed?” Rene Descartes in his writings from Meditations on First Philosophy brings to us this very reason of doubt of our senses and perceptions. For we have all “been deceived in sleep by similar illusions” (Descartes) placing the question, how would we “know the difference between the dream world and the real world?”(Synopsis: The Matrix)
It is very interesting looking back at the works of Plato and Descartes in comparison to more modern works such as the blockbuster hit “The Matrix”. When examining The Matrix we see a complex world built by machines portraying to the human race a virtual world. This virtual world allows the human race to perceive a reality around them, a world built with the intention of blinding people from the ultimate reality that what they perceive to be real is an illusion.
Plato in his famous cave allegory makes wonderful connection to the perceptions of reality and illusions. In Plato’s allegory he talks about prisoners who from childhood were bound to a wall and only capable of seeing shadows cast on a wall of puppets representing humans and animals. “Then in every way such prisoners would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of the artificial objects.”(Plato) In The Matrix Neo is very similar to the prisoner that is in the cave who both eventually finds the truth about the real world. Just as the prisoner, Neo has been living in a cave called the Matrix. This Matrix, like the illusions from the shadows of the puppets in the cave, leaves its prisoners completely ignorant to the fact that the world as they know it is not real.
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
Phil 201
Essay
6/11/13
A Matter of Perception
“How often have I dreamt that I was in these familiar circumstances that I was dressed, and occupied this place by the fire, when I was lying undressed in bed?” Rene Descartes in his writings from Meditations on First Philosophy brings to us this very reason of doubt of our senses and perceptions. For we have all “been deceived in sleep by similar illusions” (Descartes) placing the question, how would we “know the difference between the dream world and the real world?”(Synopsis: The Matrix)
It is very interesting looking back at the works of Plato and Descartes in comparison to more modern works such as the blockbuster hit “The Matrix”. When examining The Matrix we see a complex world built by machines portraying to the human race a virtual world. This virtual world allows the human race to perceive a reality around them, a world built with the intention of blinding people from the ultimate reality that what they perceive to be real is an illusion.
Plato in his famous cave allegory makes wonderful connection to the perceptions of reality and illusions. In Plato’s allegory he talks about prisoners who from childhood were bound to a wall and only capable of seeing shadows cast on a wall of puppets representing humans and animals. “Then in every way such prisoners would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of the artificial objects.”(Plato) In The Matrix Neo is very similar to the prisoner that is in the cave who both eventually finds the truth about the real world. Just as the prisoner, Neo has been living in a cave called the Matrix. This Matrix, like the illusions from the shadows of the puppets in the cave, leaves its prisoners completely ignorant to the fact that the world as they know it is not real.
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
Cited: Descartes, René. Meditations on First Philosophy. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1960. Plato, G. R. F. Ferrari, and Tom Griffith. The Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000 Synopsis: The Matrix The Matrix and the reality it presents, is built off of representations of things that did exist in reality which is something that Descartes brings up. “Nevertheless it must be admitted at least that the objects which appear to us in sleep are, as it were, painted representations which could not have been formed unless in the likeness of realities; and, therefore, that those general objects, at all events, namely, eyes, a head, hands, and an entire body, are not simply imaginary, but really existent.” A good example of the connection to Descartes quote in the film is a scene when Cypher is with Agent Smith, a computer virus created to regulate the Matrix living outside the boundaries of the program. Cypher says to agent smith “I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the matrix is telling my brain that its juicy and delicious” The steak and its qualities are all representations The Matrix is a program built off of those “painted representations” as Descartes mentions in his argument “these things we see must exist as real things rather than imaginary things” (Descartes).