Compare and Contrast: Plato, Descartes, and The Matrix
There are some similarities and differences in the excerpts by Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” (Retrieved from Liberty.edu/blackboard), Descartes’s “Meditation I of The Things of Which We May Doubt” (Retrieved from Liberty.edu/blackboard), and the Synopsis: The Matrix (Retrieved from Liberty.edu/blackboard). All three stories are similar in that they seek understanding of accurate natural knowledge, but also have differences relating to “Common Sense Skepticism” (Foreman, 2016). According to Foreman (2016) “This is a healthy kind of skepticism that we all tend to have when we hear stories of things out of the ordinary” (Foreman, 2016). In addition, each of the authors use some reasoning
…show more content…
It depicts people living as having the ability to learn, gain knowledge, have righteous character, moral, or religious belief, or values, yet have profound doubts about reality. As stated by Dew and Foreman (2014), “…the degrees of certainty arise from the nature of the objects, entities or issues that we inquire about” (Dew & Foreman, 2014, p. 162). Each individual character in some way or the other is seeking understanding about true or healthy cognitive development. Although shown in different ways, each story makes an attempt to capture the human’s natural ability to distinguish between the real world and personal discernment. In Plato’s excerpt, he depicts a similar skeptical way of experiencing life vicariously through restricted life experiences, possibly with fewer given choices, or even less edifying opportunities. His skepticism about the levels of life experiences pertains to the level of knowledge a person accomplishes. Skepticism is also the basis of Descartes’s story, his doubtfulness about attained natural knowledge or education. His point of view shows that his concern is based on a person’s learned behavior during childhood that later in life can be mistaken as “false opinions for true” (p. …show more content…
Per Dew and Foreman (2014), “Skepticism raises important questions about our cognitive and perceptual limitations but goes too far and leaves us with nothing, or almost nothing, that can be known. In the end, there are good reasons for thinking that we can have varying degrees of knowledge about the world” (Dew & Foreman, 2014, p. 162). Furthermore, Dew and Foreman state that “Virtue epistemology attempts to emphasize the important role that intellectual virtue should play in our pursuit of knowledge” (Dew & Foreman, 2014, p. 125). They show similar and different ways people can gain knowledge through individual “internal or external” life experiences, but no matter the experience individuals are capable gaining true
In one of Plato’s works called The Allegory of the Cave he goes over what it means to get higher knowledge and the path you have to take to get to this higher knowledge. Plato also goes over how this higher knowledge or enlightenment will affect people and how they act. He ties this all together through what he calls the cave. Plato tells Glaucon a sort of story about how the cave works and what the people within the cave have to do to get to the enlightenment. A while down the road the Wachowski siblings with the help of Warner Brothers Studios made a movie titled The Matrix. This movie follows the came concept that Plato does in the cave. With saying that the world that Neo (the main character) was living in was in fact not real but a made
The movie, "The Matrix," parallels Platos's Allegory Of The Cave in a number of ways. Similar to the prisoners of the cave, the humans trapped in the matrix (the cave) only see what the machines (the modern day puppet-handlers) want them to see. They are tricked into believing that what they hear in the cave and see before them is the true reality that exists. Furthermore, they accept what their senses are telling them and they believe that what they are experiencing is all that really exists--nothing more.
...The Matrix” and Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” almost gives the idea that the movies writers may have had a lot of influence from Plato’s allegory. The creation of this movie gives and futuristic prospective of “The Allegory of the Cave” letting the people who have seen the movie think about reality and the truth. In conclusion, Plato’s story of the cave brings up many philosophical points and most significantly, addresses the topic of society’s role in our lives. On some level, we are all influenced by the thoughts and actions of everyone else, but at the same time, we as humans have the ability to question, make our own conclusions, and finally make our own choices.
Throughout human existence, scholars have earnestly pursued knowledge and the attainment of truth. Historical figures such as Plato, Descartes, and Emerson sought answers to daunting questions of: ‘What is truth?’; ‘What is reality?’; ‘How is wisdom acquired?’ Many scholars believe these philosophers presented conflicting viewpoints: Plato encouraging skepticism among all previous historical, cultural, and personal perspectives; Descartes questioning definitions of reality and his very existence; Emerson encouraging self-trust and confidence in one’s ideals, opinions, and convictions. Surprisingly, reconciliation can be reached from these three differing hypotheses. Emerson’s thesis merely expounds from Descartes and Plato’s philosophies. He builds from Descartes’ search for self-identity and reconciles Plato’s skepticism with his views of self-trust and unconformity among scholars.
The Allegory of the Cave, and The Myth of Sisyphus, are both attempts at explaining some aspect of the way people think or why humans do as observed. Both stories illustrate the same idea: without necessary and proper exposure to change, thinking is limited and ignorance is the direct product.
The allegory of the cave is one of Plato’s many theories, probably one of his most known theories as well. This theory is based on the human perception. Plato would say that the knowledge gained through the senses is no more than your opinion but in order to have actual knowledge you have to obtain it through philosophical reasoning. In his theory, he separates people who think that their sensory knowledge it the truth and people who really see the truth.
The movie “The Matrix” contains many aspects that are similar to the works of Descartes, especially in his “Meditations on First Philosophy” where he has doubts about knowing if what he is experiencing is real life or if he is really just in a dream. In The Matrix, a computer programmer named Neo meets with a man named Morpheus after receiving anonymous messages from him through his computer. When he meets with Morpheus, he is given the option to either go back to his “normal” life in the matrix, or to find out what the matrix is and what true reality is. Neo chooses to find out more.
The allegory of the cave is Socrates’ example continuing on the divided line theory focusing on section C) Belief and D) Illusion. He goe...
Do we really understand the world we live in and see everyday? Is our everyday perception of reality a misinterpretation, which somehow we can’t break free from? A famous Greek philosopher by the name of Plato sought out to explain this in an experiment he called the Cave Allegory. I will discuss what the Cave Allegory is as well as talk about the movie Interstellar, which is a great example of Plato’s Cave Allegory and how it relates to Plato’s ideas. The question we have to answer first is, what is Plato’s Cave Allegory?
The pursuit of knowledge has led many a philosopher to wonder what the purpose of life truly is, and how the material and immaterial are connected. The simple fact is, we can never know for certain. Arguments can be made, words can be thrown around, and rationale can be supported, but we as mere humans are not capable of arriving at the perfect understanding of life. Nonetheless, in the war against our own ignorance, we seek possible explanations to explain that which science and math cannot. Philosopher 's such as Plato and Aristotle have made notable contributions to our idea of the soul and its role in the grand scheme of life, while some, such as Descartes, have taken a more metaphysical view by pondering the impact one 's mind has on
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction film written and directed by The Wachowskis, starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne. It tells a story of a future in which reality to most humans is actually a computer program called "the Matrix”. In "the Matrix” humans are really sleep while their bodies are fed on my machines. The movie while directed to entertain audiences but also gave us many insights into philosophy. Many scenes in this movie reflect Descartes, and his many writings explaining them in a visual manner. In this paper I will show various examples of philosophy within the scenes and give commentary explaining each scene.
The circumstances that are described by Plato have a metaphorical meaning to them. The allegory attacks individuals who rely solely upon; or in other words are slaves to their senses. The shackles and chains that bind the prisoners are in fact their senses .In Plato’s theory, the cave itself represents the individuals whom believe that knowledge derives from what we can hear and see in the world around us; in other words, empirical knowledge. The cave attempts to show that believers of empirical knowledge are essentially ...
In the movie The Matrix we find a character by the name of Neo and his struggle adapting to the truth...to reality. This story is closely similar to an ancient Greek text written by Plato called "The Allegory of the Cave." Now both stories are different but the ideas are basically the same. Both Stories have key points that can be analyzed and related to one another almost exactly. There is no doubt that The Matrix was based off Greek philosophy. The idea of freeing your mind or soul as even stated in "The Allegory of the Cave" is a well known idea connecting to Greek philosophy. The Matrix is more futuristic and scientific than "The Cave" but it's the same Idea. Neo is trapped in a false reality created by a computer program that was created by machines that took over the planet. Now the story of course has many themes such as Man vs. Machine, Good vs. Evil, and our favorite Reality vs. Illusion. Neo is unplugged from the matrix and learns the truth and becomes "the one" who is to save the humans from their machine oppressors. "The Cave" is similar in that it has humans trapped in a cave and chained up to only face one direction. The "puppeteers" then make shadows against the wall the humans face using the fire from the outside as a light source. One big difference is that "The Cave" is about two philosophers conversing about the cave as one explains what needs to happen and that the prisoners must free their souls to find truth. The Matrix is the actions of what the philosopher describes actually happening. The comparing of the two stories will show how things said in "The Cave" are the same as in The Matrix, of course with the exception that one is futuristic ...
Like in Plato’s cave, the only way to tell if the life you are living in right now is real, is to be shown, directed out. Perhaps death is a concept and you just wake up. But who is to say that is the real reality when you have lived a whole life time in a simulation. In both the cave and the matrix, they must accept the truth before they can acquire deeper knowledge. To achieve this, they had to experience the shocking demonstration of how their senses are inadequate and that they can be systematically deceived.
Plato is one of the great philosophers in history, which still is teaching us lessons today. One of his most historic story, “Allegory of the Cave.” When discussing his views of truth and reality, and how the truth we experience is not direct or literal, is best explained through his words. Allegory of the cave in modern times, is the equivalent of the movie, “The Matrix” (The first film). What better representation of a classic tale told in a modern way. If the world you have learned to accept and the truth that you surround yourself with, could all be changed, would you take the leap of faith to truly understand what the truth is? Or would the world that surrounds you be all the truth you want to accept?