Compare and Contrast the Matrix, Plato, and Descartes

Mashanna Hartley

Phil 201

3 October 2016

Essay Paper

Compare and contrast The Matrix, Plato, and Descartes

The Matrix, Plato, and Descartes have one thing in common, they all doubt the reality of the world. Descartes said, “Let us suppose that we are dreaming, and that all these particulars namely, the

opening of the eyes, the motion of the head, the forth-putting of the hands are merely illusions”

(Descartes). After watching The Matrix and reading the synopsis, it shows some similarities and

differences with Descartes and Plato. The Matrix and Plato both describe a person in a world. The world

was on illusion. The illusion was a deceiving picture that these characters believe they were serving. The

main character of The Matrix was trapped in a false world that was created and controlled by a

computer (Wachowski). The “Allegory of the Cave,” the main character is a prisoner that was kept in a

cave that was controlled by his keepers. He thought everything he seen was real. Neo realized that all

the things he seen was an illusion that was created under The Matrix and was supervised by agents. The

man in the cave realized that the shadows he seen was actually from the agents holding objects near the

fire (Plato). Both characters were confused on what was going on. Neo and the man in the cave learned

hew things and knowledge. While Neo was held captive in a world by a computer program, and a man

was kept in an underground cave. Neo refused to accept the truth about the reality of the world he lived

in. He eventually accepted the truth, but he was not happy about it (Wachowski). The prisoner was

happy after finding out the truth and felt sorry for the guards (Plato). In all three readings, we wonder if

our senses and/or perceptions can be trusted. Also in all three readings, they question reality. Is the

world that we perceived as reality actually real? A dream? A hoax we conjured up by some Being who is

having a good laugh at our expense? Neo found the truth about reality from a computer program. The

computer program held people’s mind captive to the delusion of a false reality (Wachowski). The

difference between The Matrix, Plato, and Descartes is that Plato and Descartes suggested that we are

dreaming and is there a way to escape back into reality, while The Matrix shows a way back to the real

world. In The Matrix, Neo used all five senses to figure out reality. The main difference between the

readings are the appeal to a different source of delusion. The Matrix was about reality of people that

was controlled by a computer program (Wachowski). The prisoners of the cave in chains was to keep

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