Philosophy of the Matrix

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The movie The Matrix raises many philosophical questions and often parallels previous and sometimes ancient theories regarding reality, skepticism, and perceptions of the mind-body problem. In this essay I will be evaluating how the movie The Matrix embodies theories and ideas involving skepticism and the mind-body problem. I will be explaining in detail why the movie, Plato, and Descartes have different views other than the normal way of believing what is real and what is imagination. I will also explain why some people cannot understand this way of thinking. Lastly, while evaluating these philosophical issues from the movie I will also compare how I believe these are similar questions that are raised by both the work of Plato and Descartes.
Skepticism and Logic
Philosophical skepticism questions the nature of reality, where what is real is always at conflict with the imagination. This is manifested in the movie where the reality of the world is one where people are physically at war with the machines that are intent on destroying them, and then there is the imaginative where the people are connected to a virtual world where they experience a simulated existence and where things are relatively normal. In the simulated world, what they perceive is processed as normal, and when they are disconnected from their virtual state, the shock of what is real is almost too much for them to comprehend, especially after the initial awakening.
The movie allows viewers to see their world displayed as a simulation, enabling us to question whether or not this could be a possibility while promoting concern that all in our world is not what it may seem. This type of skepticism is rooted in logical thinking, as humans are always at work seeking...

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...machine that holds Neo and the others captive and is constantly striving to deceive those who are shackled to it.
In conclusion, those in The Matrix were slaves and prisoners when they were connected to the virtual world. For Neo, he was as Plato’s prisoner, who only knew the shadows in the cave as his only reality. Neo realized the virtual world held no normalcy or illusions when he returned to it (he accepts that he is no longer Mr. Andersen, but Neo). He was able to perceive the world around him as a false one, the result of skepticism. Neo was also able to overcome his fears as well as the shock of what the true world had become by understanding the forms around him and thus gaining knowledge in order to fight back, which is a physical result of the causation of the mind. For many, questions arise: Is this world real or only illusion? How do we really know?

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