The Matrix

Darrell Stafford

Philosophy

H.E. Malmquist

At the beginning of the Matrix a computer programmer known as Neo falls asleep in front of his computer. A mysterious message appears on the screen “Wake up Neo.” This phrase encapsulates the plot of the film as Neo struggles with the problem of being imprisoned in a material world that is actually a computer simulation program created in the distant future by Artificial Intelligence machines as a means of enslaving humanity.

The Matrix is a film filled with philosophical symbolism and raises a number of

philosophical issues. First and most obviously, it raises the issue about how you know whether the things you perceive are real or just an illusion.

Morpheus is a man who has escaped the Matrix and believes Neo is the “one” who can save all humanity. When Morpheus and Neo meet for the first time, Morpheus offers Neo two pills. “Take the blue pill you wake up in your bedroom and believe whatever you want to believe. Take the red pill and stay in Wonderland and see how deep the rabbit hole goes”(Morpheus). This statement from Morpheus asks the single most important philosophical question in the movie, to know or not to know. Neo could have chosen the blue pill and not have to face the struggles and difficulties that could be awaiting him. But, Neo chooses the red pill, rejects the happiness of ignorance and accepts an unknown future.

Morpheus reveals to Neo that the Matrix is “a computer generated dream world.” When Neo is unplugged from the Matrix and awakens for the first time in a brightly lit white space, his eyes hurt, as Morpheus explains because he has never used them.

Page2

Everything Neo has seen up to this point was seen with the minds eye, as a dream, created through software simulation. This point in the movie is very similar to the philosophical parable from Plato, The Myth of the Cave.

Neo was given the choice to stay in the Matrix or be shown the truth. Neo accepts the truth that Morpheus promised, but how did he know that the reality of Morpheus was not part of the Matrix program. Assume that Morpheus was correct and there actually was a “real world.” Neo had a choice, free will. How does Neo know that the people he is trying to save would even want his help? Could life outside the Matrix be better for people who had never had a “real life” or would they be better off never knowing. Would they be able to accept