Descartes And Locke: The Matrix

Computer programmer Thomas A. Anderson leads a secret life as a hacker under the pseudonym “Neo” and wishes to learn the answer to the question “What is the Matrix?” The mysterious underground hacker offers him the opportunity to learn the truth about the Matrix. Morpheus offers Neo an option between two pills: A blue pill which would get him back in his original time, and a red pill that would let him to find the truth he is looking for. Neo chooses the red pill. Morpheus tells Neo that right now is the year of 2199 not 20th century, and that people have a war with smart robots that were made by people created in the 21st century. Morpheus thinks that Neo is that “the One.” He thinks that Neo will be able to put the war the end with his unlimited power. Neo is educated as a tough fighter. An opening in the back of Neo’s skull connects him directly to the Matrix. All the necessary knowledge and information is transferred through it. Morpheus is sure that once Neo fully gets his own power, the Agents will be out of competition for him. Then they find out that they were revealed by their colleague, who had chosen to live in the Matrix not the actual world, and had made a deal with the Agents to give them Morpheus in exchange for a permanent come back to the Matrix. Morpheus is jailed. Neo and Trinity come back to the Matrix and try to get him out of the prison. Agent Smith kills Neo. In the actual life, Trinity says softly to Neo’s body what the Oracle had said to her: that she would get the true feelings of love with “the One”. She doesn’t want to believe that he is dead and kisses him. Neo’s heart started beating again, he’s alive; the Agents fire at him, but he moves his hand up and stops their bullets in mid-air. Then Neo destroys him. At the end he promises to show the imprisoned people a true life.

Philosophy is concentrated on investigation of truths. In the movie, the investigation for the truth was about our own being.

In this movie thoughts of Descartes and Locke were often used. Neo symbolized Descartes. He doubts all the things. This movie stressed the use of machinery as the course of action for humans. Descartes believed that all moves were of mechanical origin, but the spirit cannot be restricted. One of the events was a combat between Neo and Morpheus in a kung fu session. Neo is thought to be a super fighter. Initially he fails because he tries to use his brainpower to control his moves. Then he understands that the mechanism is guiding him not his brainpower. He thoughts that the human is an ideal computerized thing.

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“Throughout the movie, many references were made to the idea of senses. It is believed by every human that to know reality is to experience through your taste, smell, touch, hear, and see. Locke believed that this was true. There is nothing in the mind except what was first in the senses. Locke believed our mind is an empty slate. This idea parallels to the ideas in the Matrix about the mind being an empty room. Locke, though, insists that when we begin to use our senses we start to have ideas. How are we to know that our senses are not programmed? There is no correct answer. No one knows. Locke does state that the mind at birth is the blank slate. In the movie, Neo was reborn into reality. He had wires and cords to machines. When they released them, he had no control over anything. He had no understanding. The world was new to him. Neo eventually learned everything again. He was taught through computers, though, he never used his senses. Locke feels that the connection of the mind and soul is through them. You can never appreciate”(http://www.solidpapers.com/collegepapers/Philosophy/11034.htm) life fully without all the senses.

“Locke explains that experience is twofold: external and internal”. ( Modern Philosophy – The Philosophy of John Locke, 2010, June 1 http://www.rafed.net/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3324%3Amodern-philosophy&catid=231&Itemid=973&limitstart=16 )

“External experience, called sensation, gives us ideas of supposed external objects, such as color, sound, extension, motion. etc. Locke says “supposed objects,” since their existence has not been proved.

Internal experience, called reflection, makes us understand the operation of the spirit on the objects of sensation, such as knowing, doubting, believing and so forth.”(Philosophy of John Locke, 2006, December 30, http://themartinnews.blogspot.com/2006/12/philosophy-of-john-locke.html)

“In regard to the ideas furnished by sensation, it is necessary to distinguish the primary qualities (solidity, extension, figure, number, motion, etc.), which are objective, from the secondary qualities (color, sounds, etc.), which are subjective in their effect and objective in their cause. In other words the secondary qualities are powers for producing various sensations in us.”(Philosophy of John Locke, 2006, December 30, http://themartinnews.blogspot.com/2006/12/philosophy-of-john-locke.html)

“For Locke, sensation and reflection are classified as simple and complex, according to whether they are irreducible elements, such as whiteness, rotundity, or reducible to more simple elements. Thus the idea of an apple is complex because it is a combination of the simple ideas of color, rotundity, taste, and so forth.” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, John Locke, 2001, September 2 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke)

I agree with Locke that our experience is separated into external and internal ones.