All works of art are philosophical in that they explore issues in some way.
However, The Matrix, Mr. Magoo cartoons, and plenty else are not really philosophical works because they don’t present new philosophical ideas. Incessant references do not necessarily indicate philosophy. If I quote a Pepsi commercial in casual conversation, it doesn’t make me a philosopher.
I have no doubt that the filmmakers intended it to be thought-provoking, but only because they knew that most of their audience would not have a philosophical background. All their philosophy is old, old, old.
The irony is that the ads told you that! Fishburne doing his best Jedi Master impersonation saying “No-one can be told what the Matrix is…”
What I’m interested in is why the Phillip K. Dick Moment seems to have become the major theme of modern, popular, science fiction. I wonder what the hell is going on in the world that so many people relate to the idea that everything they know. . .about themselves is a lie?
I’m not sure what a Philosophical Work is, I think the Matrix has a lot of interesting literary themes and follows steadfastly in the wake of Dick in that respect. It’s also very clever and people often confuse being clever with being insightful.
My favorite scene in the movie is, instead of all the “cool” action scenes, the scene where neo waes up at the power plant, so I guess I value the philosophical side of Matrix higher than all the thrilling action.
The inhabitants of Plato’s Cave live in a real world with fake elements added on by the puppeteers. Humans inside the Matrix couldn’t perceive the real world(the power plant) at all.
I would rather assosciate Matrix with Descartes’ meta-cognitive theory about an omnipotent malign genius rigging our cognitive faculties so that we are deceived all the time.
I’m not amazed, surely there was much time and effort placed into this detailed analysis, but you should look at the motivation of the person behind the work.
He is a christian (probably born again) and they are intent on converting you to their enlightend path, bring christ to you and all that, just take a look at these comments from his summary at the end…
*I did, years ago - and it has made all the difference. God is wonderful; He is not a prison! Why think that a God who died for you must be boring and stale? That is a lie from the enemy who wants you dead.
All it takes to be free is a simple act of faith – to humbly talk to God and receive the living Christ as Lord.
But I can only show you the Door – You have to walk through it!
Jesus said, “I am the Door. If anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved.” (John 10:9a).
He loves you. And He’s waiting for you! Red pill or blue pill. Which will it be? *
He is a very clever man because he knows that to reach the youth of today you could reach them through the matrix, as this is a film that they obviously enjoy, you could perhapse lead them to the bible through the movie. So by taking time to write that long (and insighful) review of his its his best way of trying to reach and convert many new people to his religion.
it he converts just one to his cause then I am sure he will feel it was time well spent.
Is “The Matrix” a philosophical work? I would say it’s a fair wager that at least the publisher of the book titled “The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (Popular Culture and Philosophy, Vol. 3)” would like you to think so. (BTW, the first two volumes in the series were Seinfeld and Philosophy and The Simpsons and Philosophy)
And for the person who was linking Cypher to Lucifer, and the Oracle in the Matrix to the Oracle at Delphi, I’d like to point out a few other popular interpertations:
Cypher is another word for Zero, and computers are based on zeros and ones. Cypher, therefore, is the anthisis of Neo, who is “The One.” (In fact, the word Neo is also an anagram of One.)
As for the Oracle? Oracle is a popular database platform. Some have argued that the Oracle’s speech pattern had the same regular, measured cadence as that of the Agents. This, combined with the fact that she’s been with them since the begining of the resistance has lead to a theory that she’s not a human at all, but another A.I.
Best article on The Matrix I"ve ever read, by the noted philosopher/critical theorist Slavoj Zizek. Like his books, it has brilliant insights and is also just plain fun to read:
Good antidote to the Jesus-freak quackery quoted above.
Fairblue: Thanx for pointing out the Baudrillard thing. Hadn’t even noticed that before. Then again, I’ve only seen the movie twice.
SCWolf: Since we’re on the subject of Zizek, another book bearing the title “Welcome To The Desert of The Real” is Zizek’s just-published book on the 9/11 attacks. You can read a truncated version on the parent site of the above link.
Hm, that link doesn’t work too well. The Japanese language support thing seems to screw things up. Anyway, you’ll find it if you search just the word “zizek”, click on the authorized site (headed “for those who may be wondering…etc.”), then click “papers on the net”, you’ll find it.
Fishburne doing his best Jedi Master impersonation saying “No-one can be told what the Matrix is…”
<----Neo