Blog 4: "The Metaphysics of the Matrix"

      Gracia and Sanford feel that it is important to distinguish the fundamental categories of The Matrix. First, there are two worlds, the real world in which artificial intelligence or the machines enslave humans for energy, and the unreal or virtual world in which humans believe they are living their lives in freedom. From this we can say that whatever is real (the world where machines enslave humans) is not unreal, and what is unreal (the Matrix) is not real. Gracia and Sanford give us two ways to distinguish between the real and the unreal world. One way is the source for the existence of things in the two worlds. The other concerns the ontological status of the real and unreal worlds, or the way things exist in the two worlds. What are the causes of the real world? From the movie we know that man made the machines. Gracia and Sanford feel that there are questions of metaphysics no answer is given. But we can determine the causes of the unreal world. We know that machines made the matrix. So what we are left with is that whatever the causes of the real world, they have nothing to do with the unreal world and the unreal world is completely depend on the real world. To determine the ontological status of the real and unreal world we must look at the two worlds closely. We know that the unreal world is completely dependent on artificial intelligence. As long as electrical impulses keep being sent to the enslaved humans in the pods of pink goop there will continue to be Matrix. Contrary to this the real world seems to be dependent on nothing. However, if the real world were dependent on something or someone, the unreal world would remain weaker since it would be further down the ontological chain. I agree with Gracia and Sanford that in order to distinguish between the two worlds of The Matrix that it is important to determine categories of both. After this is done we can determine what characteristics, if any share. it is possible to come to see that the Matrix depends on the real world and that no known causes are given for the real world.

Blog 3:"The Matrix and Philosophy"

In the book "The Matrix and Philosophy" by William Irwin, it states various perspectives about life. It talks about whether life is an illusion, Reality or not? In the first scene "Computers, Caves and Oracles: Neo and Socrates" talk about a world where people are slaves. They don't even know they are slaves due to the fact that, that is the only world they know. Like in the Matrix that's the only world that Neo know. Morpheus tells Neo he was "born into a prison of his mind" this means that it's up to Neo to realize that he’s the one who can control what is real or not. Neo took the road less traveled by and lead him to a world where no one was aware. He himself couldn't believe in it until he made the choice to, Neo was given the choice to walk away from it all in the beginning but he chose not to, he was the one who decided to take the red pill and see what the Matrix actually was. Most people choose to believe in things they don't even know, because people enforce them to believe in them, Morpheus says, "What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain", so through out this we see struggles between characters trying to define what is real or if its worth living, the only one with the "real" answer is you.

Blog 1: The Allegory of the Cave

I can’t believe that I am actually going to walk out of this Cave. But is this real can there actually exist another life outside all these shadows I see in front of me within all this darkness. I can’t stay in this place forever if there is a life out there. I really do believe that I a am living outside the cave because I have had so many strong experiences in my life. I have see and left so many different things through out my life. I have had deaths and new members in my family. I don’t have the same things go on everyday they change all the time, some days they can be go and others can be horrible. There are many things that I have learned from all of these experiences from being responsible and be on time for school. I have also learned that you can’t trust everyone you meet right away. I don’t feel that I am chained in anywhere or held back from anything. I love to have explore new things and learn from then to help me out in the future.

Blog 2:Allegory of the Cave & The Matrix Discussion

What we believe is the reality or fiction is not always our decision. It sometimes has to do with how we are brought up or taught. As soon as we are born we are instantly introduced to a community and a way of life. As we grow older we usually stay with the same ideas that we were brought up to believe or find out the truth about life as in The Allegory of the Cave or in The Matrix. Everyone in the matrix live in a world that they believe is real but Neo thought that he was living in the real world all his life until he was introduced to The Matrix. After his first experience in it he couldn’t distinguish if his whole life he was living in the real world or if the matrix was. This was then same thing that happened to Socrates when he finally was sent free after living in a cave and looking at shadow images his entire life. That was all he saw and all he knew about including the prisoners that were there with him. He always believed that the shadows that he saw were real and that that’s the way all things looked, that was the way that life was suppose to look and be. Now they have to decide if what they have always lived is true or their new experiences of living. They both look for answer Neo from the Oracle and Socrates from the priestess from the Apollo to things that they don’t understand but no one has a real answer to give them. Neo also feels this way because Morpheus believes that neo is the chosen one or the one that would free the humans from the mind prison that everyone lives in. He tells Neo that he had to try and free his mind. That the worst thing that can ever happened I that someone takes control of your mind. According to Plato, all we actually experience at the level of reality available through our five senses. For me this mean that we live things from our point of view, things that may be one way for us may not be the same for another. Proving again that we all have the choice to see our own reality.