Matrix
Materialism and subjectivism have emerged from the tradition of western philosophy as the two dominant ways to look at the world. In general, materialists attempt to use philosophy as a tool to look objectively at the world, and to derive broad, all-encompassing principles that govern our actions. These efforts are based upon their belief that reality is created by physical and external circumstances, and that the forces acting independently of the mind are the central causes for what we experience. Subjectivists, on the other hand, believe that reality is created by the mind alone. Consequently, they are brought to the conclusion that philosophy cannot tell us general truths about reality, but that these truths must be singular to the individual. This is a difficult debate to settle because, obviously, everyone is confined to looking at the world through their own perspective, but the idea that everyone shares some common perspectives remains appealing. The film, The Matrix, displays a number of both subjectivist and materialist notions, specifically with regard to the question of reality. It is not clear as to whether or not the film was intended to offer a synthesis of the two concepts, but each seem to play some role in the w
Nevertheless, Morpheus' statement does not go unchallenged by the subsequent events of the film. The fact that The Matrix is not based upon strictly materialist philosophies is first evidenced by the fact that Neo feels compelled to search for some unknown truth. Doubtlessly, materialists are often driven to uncover the truths of the universe, but Neo's impetus is not exactly the same as theirs. Materialists believe that the world we experience is the real world, so any truths that we discover about it are universal truths of reality (Feinberg, 514). Neo, however, is driven by the notion that what he experiences every day is not real. Specifically, he feels that there is dissimilarity between the world his mind is interpreting and the world his body experiences. Obviously, he is almost completely unaware of how drastic this dissimilarity is. Still, the fact that he is aware of this difference on some innate level reveals that the perfectly tuned electrical impulses in his brain have been, on some level, rejected by his mind during the process of interpretation. If the electrical impulses were actually the same as his thoughts, it would be impossible for him to perceive that those impulses were artificially contrived by the matrix. So, early on we become aware that the materialist universe generated by the matrix is subject to individual interpretations that may either recognize the fallacy or not. When Neo first learns of the matrix Morpheus explains to him, "If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain." (Matrix, 1999). This is a particularly materialist perspective of reality. This is because, since materialists believe in the physical aspects of the world, they conclude that any phenomena that are present in the mind are mere consequences of what we physically observe the mind to be. So, whereas an individual believing in the separation of the mind and the body would believe that e
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Approximate Word count = 1330
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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