1. Although the Matrix was shown in theatres in 1999 and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave was put together before the common era, there are a few striking parallels to reality and life. In the Matrix, Neo has the question that needs to be answered from the beginning of the film: What is real? Neo was living in a false world, but was not sure of that. Morpheus suggested the same idea (What is real?) when giving Neo a red or blue pill; the red pill gave Neo the way out of the Matrix. In Plato’s Allegory, the cave is used as what our senses tell us what is real or not. The way out from the cave was to climb out and reach the surface of the earth. Humans only see what perceived to be real through the shadows on the wall or the Matrix. These might be the strongest parallel between two completely different worlds and times. …show more content…
In Plato’s allegory, that is the people who are making the shadows on the cave, which are bending the truth and putting an image on the wall that gave prisoners false identity. Similarly in the Matrix, that would be the agents controlling the humans and giving them the computer world in which they live in. In both worlds, there is a way out to understanding the world around you. In the cave, that would be leaving the cave and reaching the sunlight on the surface (sunlight is the truth). The parallel of reaching the sunlight is awakening from the Matrix that Neo endured. In both situations cause humans to be weak and still a bit confused. In the matrix, Neo finds the truth by controlling and understanding the matrix; ultimately he has the ability to defeat the agents. Again, after some time getting used to the truth (the Matrix and Sunlight), they have complete understanding of what reality
Plato’s allegory of the cave include the light, the objects, and the shadows. The novel named “The Picture of Dorian Grey” contains a purposeful meaning for each key component. In the cave, individuals are shown the shadows of puppets which they consider their reality; however, it’s only a “fake” representation of reality. Just as Dorian Grey’s beautiful appearance was merely a “fake” copy of himself when he was pure and innocent, it never disappeared because of his immortality. Yet, when the individuals have been shown the objects, they are skeptical about the “true” reality, not knowing that they are seeing the truth behind the shadows. Similar to the picture of Dorian Grey, which portrayed his ghastly appearance, contained his true-self
In one of Plato’s works called The Allegory of the Cave he goes over what it means to get higher knowledge and the path you have to take to get to this higher knowledge. Plato also goes over how this higher knowledge or enlightenment will affect people and how they act. He ties this all together through what he calls the cave. Plato tells Glaucon a sort of story about how the cave works and what the people within the cave have to do to get to the enlightenment. A while down the road the Wachowski siblings with the help of Warner Brothers Studios made a movie titled The Matrix. This movie follows the came concept that Plato does in the cave. With saying that the world that Neo (the main character) was living in was in fact not real but a made
Both plots include a person being enlightened and it shows the person's past as well as the journey they take to enlightenment. In The Allegory of the Cave we go back to the prisoner. He has been chained in the cave all his life with only ever knowing the muffled sounds as well as the shadows of figures passing by. When he is finally let out he sees the real world and is amazed. In The Matrix Neo has been using computers both for good as well as illegally.
“ They see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave”(Plato 1). This is from the article “ Allegory of the Cave” and there are oppressors in the story who are hiding the truth from the people who know nothing but what they are taught by them. In the film The Matrix, it shows a man named Neo who gets help from a man from the real world to help him escape. Neo finally sees the truth of the world he was living in and realize it was a lie and a illusion to him and the others who still don 't know the real world. He is being train to fight and go back and defeat the system of the machines who are controlling the people who are blinded. The Matrix parallels Plato “Allegory of the
Freedom in mind, freedom in nature, and freedom in subjectivity of individual are three kinds of freedoms. However, freedom should be expressed within the limits of reason and morality. Having freedom equals having the power to think, to speak, and to act without externally imposed restrains. As a matter of fact, finding freedom in order to live free is the common idea in Plato with "The Allegory of the Cave"; Henry David Thoreau with " Where I lived and What I lived for"; and Jean Paul Sartre with " Existentialism". Generally, Plato, Thoreau, and Sartre suggested that human life should be free. They differ in what that freedom is. Plato thinks it is found in the world of intellect, Thoreau thinks freedom is found in nature, and Sartre thinks freedom is found in subjectivity of individual.
The Matrix modernizes the originality of the Allegory of the cave and adds a more feelings towards the question of reality and how others interperts it. The film and the Allegory have many similarities and differnces but they revolve around the same metaphysical question. Even thought they have many similarities and differnces but the important ones for me are: the film and the allegory's view on reality to others, Neo and the freed man are controlled and the final, the difference between Neo and the freed man are the experince of life.
In this allegory, the depictions of humans as they are chained, their only knowledge of the world is what is seen inside the cave. Plato considers what would happen to people should they embrace the concepts of philosophy, become enlightened by it, and see things as they truly are. As we have mentioned in class, Plato’s theory did not only present itself in his allegory, but also in the Wachowski brothers’ hit film, The Matrix. In the film, the protagonist, Neo, suffers from a similar difficulty of adapting to reality, or the truth, which we will see later on. In order to understand Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, one must consider how Plato’s use of symbols to explain what true knowledge (or enlightenment) really is along with the comparisons to the Wachowski brothers’ film, The Matrix.
In the contemporary world , culture refers to something as vast as the distinctive way of life of an entire community. Culture is everywhere and everyone has it; it is the mass of ideas, traditions, habits, stories, beliefs, and perspectives on life passed on to us from generation to generation through literature, language, art, myth, religion, family, and various other social institutions. Plato had many different ideas when it comes to human behavior and philosophy. Some of those things can be applied to today’s society, some of them can’t. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which is probably his most famous theory, as well as Krishnamurti’s essay on cultural conditioning of a mind, they both focus on cultural values and living within a culture and can still be seen in today’s society.
In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, he creates a matrix of two worlds, the world of being and the world of becoming. The two worlds are set up as a binary system where one is the negative and the other one is the world of Truth, where the positive is. The two worlds are opposing one another creating this binary system that sets up two completely worlds and a hierarchy. The world of becoming (the negative) consists of our body, senses, the mortal, appearances and the changeable. The world of being (world of Truth) consists of our soul, reason, the divine, the immortal, and wisdom, Forms, essences and the unchangeable. According to Plato, it is the world of being that should be privileged over the world of becoming because only the world of being
Imagine living through life completely bound and facing a reality that doesn’t even exist. The prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” are blind from true reality as well as the people in the movie “The Matrix” written and directed by the Wachowski brothers. They are given false images and they accept what their senses are telling them, and they believe what they are experiencing is all that really exists. Plato the ancient Greek philosopher wrote “The Allegory of the Cave”, to explain the process of enlightenment and what true reality may be. In the movie “The Matrix”, Neo (the main character) was born into a world of illusions called the matrix. His true reality is being controlled by the puppet- handlers called the machines who use the human body as a source of energy. In the movie, Neo, finds and alternate reality and he has to go on a journey to discover himself and what is around him. Much like “The Allegory of the Cave” the prisoners in a dark underground cave, who are chained to the wall, have a view of reality solely based upon this limited view of the cave which is but a poor copy of the real world. Both the prisoners of the cave, and Neo from the Matrix, have to transcend on the path of ‘enlightenment’ to know the truth of their own worlds.
As people, we tend to believe everything we see. Do we ever take the time to stop and think about what is around us? Is it reality, or are we being deceived? Reality is not necessarily what is in front of us, or what is presented to us. The environment that we are placed or brought up has a great impact on what we perceive to be the truth or perceive to be reality. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is one of the most significant attempts to explain the nature of reality. The cave represents the prisoners, also known as the people. They are trapped inside of a cave. They are presented with shadows of figures, and they perceive that to be reality. The cave can be used as a
In "The Allegory of the Cave," prisoners in a cave are forced to watch shadows as people behind them are forced to accept these shadows as reality -- "To them... the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images. One prisoner, however, is released, and stumbles into the real world, containing more depth and complexity than they had ever known. At first, the prisoner will be pained at the bright, piercing light, but will eventually recover. According to Plato, the freed prisoner is then obligated to return to the shadows of the cave, to inform the shackled prisoners left behind of the real world. The prisoners, however, will not believe the freed prisoner, and may even go as afra s to kill him for such "lies" contrary to their "reality." The pursuit of the truth is, therefor, a painstaking but rewarding process. According to Plato, the physical world is a world of sight, one that lacks meaning if left alone. Only those who manage to break into the sunlight from the cave will ascend to the intellectual world. The prisoners in the shadows only know of the dull physical world, while those who ascend into the sunlight learn of the spiritual world, and are exposed to the first hints of truth. The soul ascends upward into the realm of goodness and of the truth, where "... souls are ever hastening into the upper world where they desire to dwell.." The pursuit of goodness and of the truth, then, improves the soul, as the soul desires to be elevated to a higher state of knowledge and morality. Caring for the self and the soul involves freeing the shackles of the physical world and ascending to the "... world of knowledge... the universal author of all things beautiful and right... and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual..." The soul yearns to dwell in a world of morality and knowledge, and only the pursuit of
Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" presents a vision of humans as slaves chained in front of a fire observing the shadows of things on the cave wall in front of them. The shadows are the only "reality" the slaves know. Plato argues that there is a basic flaw in how we humans mistake our limited perceptions as reality, truth and goodness. The allegory reveals how that flaw affects our education, our spirituality and our politics.
Neo is the main character of ‘’The Matrix” and is captive in a false reality created by the Matrix a computer program, which has taken over the world. In Plato’s Allegory, the prisoner understands reality experienced in the cave and the real reality outside of the cave. Another similarity that “The Matrix” and the Allegory have is the acceptance of the truth of what Neo and the prisoner must go through when that happens they will acquire a deeper knowledge. In order to obtain such knowledge, both the prisoner and Neo need to experience that their senses have deceived them. Another similarity shared is that both characters stories are controlled by a higher power. One example is that Neo lives in a world controlled by the Matrix and Plato's prisoner is in a cave controlled by their captors. Both prisoner
In the movie The Matrix we find a character by the name of Neo and his struggle adapting to the truth...to reality. This story is closely similar to an ancient Greek text written by Plato called "The Allegory of the Cave." Now both stories are different but the ideas are basically the same. Both Stories have key points that can be analyzed and related to one another almost exactly. There is no doubt that The Matrix was based off Greek philosophy. The idea of freeing your mind or soul as even stated in "The Allegory of the Cave" is a well known idea connecting to Greek philosophy. The Matrix is more futuristic and scientific than "The Cave" but it's the same Idea. Neo is trapped in a false reality created by a computer program that was created by machines that took over the planet. Now the story of course has many themes such as Man vs. Machine, Good vs. Evil, and our favorite Reality vs. Illusion. Neo is unplugged from the matrix and learns the truth and becomes "the one" who is to save the humans from their machine oppressors. "The Cave" is similar in that it has humans trapped in a cave and chained up to only face one direction. The "puppeteers" then make shadows against the wall the humans face using the fire from the outside as a light source. One big difference is that "The Cave" is about two philosophers conversing about the cave as one explains what needs to happen and that the prisoners must free their souls to find truth. The Matrix is the actions of what the philosopher describes actually happening. The comparing of the two stories will show how things said in "The Cave" are the same as in The Matrix, of course with the exception that one is futuristic ...