Plato & The Matrix

Plato & The Matrix essay assignment

Plato & The Matrix essay assignment

The Matrix Screenplay:  http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/the_matrix.pdf

In the “Myth of the Cave,” Plato describes his metaphysics (truth about Being), his epistemology (how you come to know the truth), his politics and his religion. On the level of ontology, the Myth is an Allegory, with each level of the Cave representing a different level of Being in a chain of being.

In reverse order (from the lowest to the highest) these are:

shadows on the wall
puppets
fire in the cave
shadows or reflections in water outside the cave
things-in-themselves outside cave
moon and stars
The Sun

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I called it a chain of being, because, to Plato all the things in the chain are connected.  For instance, the shadows on the wall are produced, in a sense, by the puppets.  They are projections of the puppets and, therefore, share in their truth, but the shadows are only pale and incomplete expressions of the higher truth that is the puppets. The shadow isn’t completely false. It’s just not as true as the puppet. That’s easy enough to understand.  What is harder to understand is that, for Plato, all the other stages in the chain have a similar relationship to one another.  So, just as the shadow is a projection of the puppet, the puppet is ultimately a projection of the thing outside the cave that the puppet represents.  If the puppet is of a duck, it is the real duck outside the cave that allows the duck puppet to exist.  The same is true about the relationship between the stars and the sun.  Now this sounds like nonsense because you hold to a cosmology (a theory about the cosmos or universe) that says the sun is only the closest star to the earth.  But Plato doesn’t know that.  In his view, the moon and stars are projections or emanations of the Sun, which is the Source of all light and being.

The gist of all this is the idea that all things, all truth, is an emanation or projection from the ultimate Source, which is (you guessed it) GOD.  In the allegory God is light.  Now, what does that mean?  What is light?  Because of our cosmology that comes from modern physics, we tend to see light as a material thing (modern physics can’t decide whether it is a particle or a wave.)  Plato, however, doesn’t know his Einstein.  His cosmology is rooted in Persian thought, which is rooted in further Eastern ideas…  and this thinking leads to the insight that God is light.  The most notable expression of this idea is Manichaeism, which posits two forces in the universe: light which is good and matter which is evil.  But you also see it in Christianity:

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John.8

12] Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

 

John.12

[35] Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he     that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

[36] While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.

[46] I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

Eph.5

[8] For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

[13] But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

[14] Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

So, again, what does this mean?  Well, in this ancient understanding of light, light is not a thing.  It is not material.  It is an idea, an abstract concept.  The key notion here is that all the abstract concepts are all related and come from the ultimate Source of all ideas: God.  The most famous expression of this idea is:

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John.1

[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[2] The same was in the beginning with God.
[3] All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
[4] In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
[5] And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

What is God?  God is the Word: the abstract concept that is the source of all abstract concepts, which emanate from the Divine.  This is the fundamental order of the universe.

So, now, finally, we can begin to understand the metaphysics of the Myth of the Cave.

Levels of the cave Levels of Being/ Truth
Shadows Appearing “reality.”  You might also include your opinions about reality.
Puppets Traditions or whatever authority figures tell us is true and good.
Fire Power/ forces of nature:  the underlying purposes of traditions, that they provide social order, survival, pleasure, security, satisfaction
Reflections in water outside the cave Theories
Things-in-themselves The Forms: true abstract ideas or definitions (e.g. the idea or definition of chairness causes all chairs)
Moon & stars The Greek Gods
Sun God

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Everything that we see in our world is merely a shadow, an appearance caused/ projected/ emanating from a pure abstract concept of the thing (the Form) that exists on a plane of pure Being (you could call it heaven (but no streets of gold) or the 6th dimension, nirvana (but no Kurt Cobain)  or whatever) above and beyond, outside our enslaved existence of the material world (the Cave).  Only these ideas are ultimately true, hence we call such a metaphysics idealism.  These Forms, are ultimately caused/ projected/ emanations from the “Form of the Good”, which, again, is God.  To be a philosopher is to literally go beyond, above and behind the appearance and the material and seek, through abstract reasoning, the underlying ideas, the underlying truth of all things.  To do this is to literally climb the chain of being such that you leave this shadowy world of ours and go to the “islands of the Blessed (p. 98) where one may enjoy ecstatic union with the truth, the real, the source, the Divine.

Now how many people can really go on such a journey?  What kind of political society would make such a journey possible?

 

For traditionalists there was no knowledge or virtue but only virtuosity, the freedom that is only possible by action in public, in and with the political community.

 

For sophists, knowledge is just the tool that gets you dominance and desires.  Freedom is the power to choose.

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Socrates said knowledge was virtue.  What he knew was that he knew nothing.  This led to a new understanding of freedom.  Freedom, for Socrates, was the life of a philosopher.  It involved questioning everything such that the human being comes alive, alive to the reality of the world and the god inside him.

 

Plato agrees with Socrates that knowledge is virtue, but now Plato thinks that knowledge of the truth is actually possible.  Freedom, then, is knowing the truth, which then makes a person virtuous (free from ignorance, spiritedness and desires).  And the only person who can know the truth is the philosopher.  Since only the philosopher has the intellect required to get out of the cave, then only the philosopher is qualified to rule.

Influence of Plato

  1. Philosophy: The beginning of philosophy as the search for metaphysical truth
  2. Politics: The wise should rule
    1. True democracy is impossible because the people are ignorant and do not want true freedom. Conservatism: The superior must control the inferior or the inferior will run wild.
    2. Politics is about knowing the truth, especially the truth about human beings, that enables the wise to design institutions and rules that create justice: peace, harmony, order and equality before the law. Everyone else just does a job, focusing on their selfish interests.
    3. Social engineering: Plato’s account of the education of the guardians suggests the possibility of creating ideal citizens through communal living, censorship and selective breeding.
  3. Religion: God is one and synonymous with reason. The principles of religion are universally true, so the universe should be united under one god and one religion.
  4. Ethics: Ethics involves knowing the correct abstract truths about how to live (deontological ethics).  Once you know those rules, you will be good.  Some people cannot know these truths.  They can only be told “noble lies,” which will allow elites to control them.

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The Matrix and Platonism

“The Matrix” asks a bunch of philosophical questions.  Each of these questions is given a Platonist answer, and a Platonist answer is brought into question.

 

  1. Are we free?

 

  1. We are all trapped in The Matrix and we don’t even know it.  What is The Matrix?
    1. We are brains in a vat controlled by sinister scientists or AI.
    2. What is the Matrix if it is not the literal one of the movie?
  • Even if you know about the Matrix, everything that happens is predestined. The Oracle knows.
  1. If you question “reality,” you can “travel down the rabbit hole” to get to the bottom of things.
    1. You can leave The Matrix and live as an outsider. (But you will have to eat glop.)
    2. You can live in The Matrix. If you train your mind to know the truth (There is no spoon.)  You will have superpowers.

 

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  1. Are we equal?
      1. There are hidden forces that manipulate and control us. We are pawns in a larger game.
      2. Some people have “the gift” (Neo) and some people are natural slaves (“coppertops”).
    2. Yes
      1. If we could get out of the Matrix or destroy the Matrix, then natural equality would be restored.
      2. We are all equal in the way that truly matters. God is not a lord but a kindly black woman who lives in the projects and helps each of us find our own destiny.

 

  1. Will knowledge bring virtue and freedom?
    1. No
      1. The machines know, and they keep us in slavery. Human beings are inevitably dependent on and enslaved to machines.  The more we know, the greater that dependence becomes.  We got so smart that we created AI, which made us superfluous and caused us to destroy the world.  Human beings are a virus. Cipher knows ignorance is bliss.
      2. Morpheus knows, and he wants to destroy the powerplants (killing almost everyone and AI).
  • Morpheus only believes, which leads him blindly to sacrifice himself and others.
  1. Yes
    1. Victory in the war with the machines will enable all the true human beings to live in Zion.
    2. “’Know Thyself.’ I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. Being the One is just like being in love. Nobody can tell you you’re in love. You just know it. Through and through. Balls to bones.”

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  1. Should the philosopher king rule?
    1. Yes
      1. Neo is The One who knows the truth about existence (the truth he sees the moment he becomes The One) who will lead us to victory over evil and restore true justice.
      2. Neo does not want to rule. This qualifies him to rule.
  • Yes, but the philosopher is not a knower but person who knows himself and believes in his or her destiny. Fate, providence or The Oracle guides such a person.  If we all are such philosophers, then we all could rule.
  1. No
    1. If the philosopher tries to free everyone, then the many will kill the philosopher or the philosopher will kill the many.
    2. Neo does not want to rule. He wants to be in love with Trinity or know the truth.

 

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  1. Should we create the ideal state?
    1. Yes
      1. In order to achieve the true and the good, the people and things who are obstacles to the true and good must be sacrificed. They sacrifice themselves because they are good, or they deserve to be sacrificed because they are bad.
      2. There are no limits on human beings’ ability to know the truth. They can reason all the way to the Source.  Once they know the truth, they have the superpower to control nature, including human nature.
  • Some people are naturally gifted with the ability to know the truth (Morpheus, Neo). Others are naturally spirited, so they should be warriors (the Nebuchadnezzar).  The many are characterized by their desires (“coppertops”).  The wise should engineer the warriors strong and brave enough (through training- downloading, communal living and a Spartan lifestyle) to defeat opponents and control the many.  If the wise do not rule, then outsiders will conquer us or the many will run wild and kill the wise.
  1. No
    1. Morpheus has a dream, which takes everyone to the Underworld.
    2. The true home of human beings is not the state but the self (know thyself, become thyself) and love (Neo + Trinity).
  • In the ideal state, no one is free, not even Neo.
  1. Human nature is a virus. All it wants to do is eat and reproduce.

 

  1. What is the good?
    1. The good is Truth, knowledge of the universal and abstract truth that united the universe.
    2. The good is love, service to others in which we take a leap to faith (our fate and their fate).
    3. The good is dominance/life. Human beings have life through their dominance of machines or other human beings.  Machines can have life through their dominance of human beings.

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Plato’s “Myth of the Cave:  The Most Important Story Ever Told

The Cave The Ideal City Athens Jerusalem USA The Matrix
Prisoners Everyone Athenians Sinners The screen-watchers “Coppertops”
Chains Violence Execution or exile Sin, flesh government The Machines
The shadow game market and politics virtuosity The law, cicumcision Good jobs The Matrix, simulacrum
Freed Prisoner The student Plato The born again Liberal arts students Mr. Anderson
Liberator The teacher Socrates Jesus Liberal arts professors Morpheus, The Oracle
Road Education The Academy The Gospel Bridgewater College The blue pill, downloads
Puppeteers Authority figures: traditionalists or sophists Pericles, Thrasymachus, Alcibiades Caesar, Pharisees and Saducees Mom & Dad, religious leaders, celebrities, politicians Agents, Agent Smith
Things outside the Cave The truth Abstract concepts or definitions The Word Scientific truths: Zion, The “Desert of the Real”
The Sun God The Divine Good/Beautiful The Trinity Reason/ cognition/ logic The Code
Returned Puppeteer The philosopher king Plato Church Fathers Barack Obama The One
The murderers The rabble Athenian traditionalist democrats Non-Christians conservatives Cipher
The murdered returnee The democrat Socrates Jesus Lincoln, JFK, Martin Luther King Jr. Neo

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