¶ … Matrix, a 1999 film, the Wachowski brothers depict several interrelated and overlapping realities and thereby pose complex philosophical, ontological questions. The filmmakers urge the audience to believe that the world of the matrix -- in which Zion exists -- is "real," whereas the world we live in is an illusion. By doing so, the Wachowski brothers imply that the world in which we live might also be one in which we are simply dreaming or in which we are actually enslaved by powerful overlords as in The Matrix. The fact that there are "architects" of the matrix does also create a philosophical problem in that there are potentially infinite false realities and possibly no absolute truths. In The Matrix, the protagonist Neo-starts off an ordinary person who has been duped into believing that the workaday world he lives in is "real." When he meets his mentor Morpheus and takes the red pill, Neo-awakens to a greater reality: that of the matrix. The experience is akin to awakening from a dream, in that the matrix reality is not necessarily more pleasant than the dream reality, but it because it has tangible markers of truth, it has more inherent value and meaning. After all, once a person awakens to the greater reality, it is impossible to feign ignorance. The Matrix is therefore an ontological film, as it addresses the philosophical question of "what is," (Smith 1).

As Chalmers points out, The Matrix presents an "old philosophical fable" in that it is an extension of the "brain in a vat" allegory. The film can also be compared with the epistemology of Plato's "cave allegory." Both realities (the matrix/Zion and the world in which Neo-used to live) can be essentially proven as being "real," but using different methodologies. On the one hand, the world the "slave" humans are programmed to believe is real does actually exist just as the world within Plato's cave does exist. One reason why this reality exists is that it has become a shared reality in which multiple beings in that world interact with one another. It does not matter to them that they are living a lie, because the people still have to wake up each day and go to work. The filmmakers are implying that this "slave" or false reality is the world in which we, the viewer lives in. Only the awakened persons like those who take red pills, or exit the cave, can judge the world they left as being false.

On the other hand, Neo-takes the red pill and thereby awakens as if from a dream. At this point, he becomes fully aware that there are at least two different versions of reality and the one that he used to live in and believe was true is actually manufactured by a cadre of powerful people. As his newly realized self in the world of the rebels Neo-develops a different set of sense perceptions, the tools that are necessary to measure and judge reality. The trick is that even back in the 1999 reality, he and other duped individuals believe that they are conducting empirical science using their sense organs. What is empirically testable and verifiable is therefore not necessarily real. That universe has laws and is relatively predictable, though, and because it is shared among multiple people it is easy to believe that it is, in fact, real, like the world in which people mistake shadows on the walls of the cave for reality. The world that Neo-used to live in is that metaphorical cave. It is a manufactured world, like a computer program. As such, it behaves in ways that mimics reality without actually being real. People trapped in that reality live in two worlds, but they are only aware that they live in one world. Neo and the other awakened or liberated beings have the power to exist in both worlds if they want to.

A second question emerges in the film when it becomes just as likely that Morpheus and the rebels are as deluded as the people still hooked up to the matrix. The audience is led to believe that the reality of the rebels and of Zion are "real" or at least more real than the reality of the matrix because of the role of free will and self-determination. Yet it is entirely possible that there is yet another overarching reality, such as the entire thing being just a giant movie. In other words, Neo, Morpheus, and other rebels could have been duped in another layer of false reality constructed by the architects. True power would come from being continually in control of reality and having the ability to steer reality in any direction one preferred, regardless of the existence of other architects. In The Matrix, Neo-does become increasingly capable of mastering reality because he learns how...

With Morpheus's help, Neo-learns how to slow down motion, for example, making it look like he is performing miracles like slowing down time in the bullet scene. This is one moment in which Neo-comes to fully realize that the reality of the matrix world could not possibly be "real" in the sense that something real must depend on a sense of permanence and objectivity. If he can manipulate the laws of physics in that world, then that world becomes falsified.
Another issue that The Matrix raises is how to quantify reality or how to prove that it exists. Empiricism suggests that the only way to prove something is real is through the senses. Therefore, the question of whether bodies are necessary for reality to exist is called into question. In The Matrix, the body Clearly, there is a connection between reality and the external or empirically verifiable world. As if reality were a Russian doll, it is possible that the characters simply peel away layers of epistemological truth rather than ever being able to reveal an absolute reality that exists independently of the dreamers/architects.

Finally, The Matrix raises questions about existential realities such as the possibility that Neo-is "The One." The issue of power is raised continually in The Matrix, as it is suggested that knowledge or truth is power, and that remaining in the matrix is a sign of weakness and enslavement. As Neo-develops confidence in his cognitive processes, he comes to believe that reality is far more complex than he even believed when first exiting the Matrix.

References

Chalmers, David J. "The Matrix as Metaphysics." Retrieved online: http://consc.net/papers/matrix.html

Kato, Morimichi. "The Matrix and the Cave." Educational Studies in Japan: International Yearbook, No. 1, 2006, pp. 15-24.

"Philosophical View of The Matrix." Retrieved online: http://home.sandiego.edu/~janderso/10/matrix.html

Smith, Barry. "Ontology." In L. Floridi (Ed.), Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information, Oxford: Blackwell, 2003, pp. 155-166. Retrieved online: http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/articles/ontology_pic.pdf

DQ

The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of reality is known as ontology. Ontology is related to epistemology, metaphysics, and empiricism, in that all of these branches of philosophy grapple with how human beings can know for certain whether or not something is real, true, valid, genuine, or meaningful. A human being typically gauges whether or not something is real based on whether the experience of reality is shared with other people. Another way of gauging reality is through empiricism. Empiricism relies on sensory input and measurable instruments. It is also possible to gauge reality on emotional constructs, which is largely the way religions operate. Religion can be, as Morpheus puts it, "a prison for your mind" in the sense that it represents a power structure that enslaves a person to a false reality. That false reality perpetuates itself, as the people who are a part of the myth feed it with their attention and consciousness.

Breaking free from false realities is challenging because it can create uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. For example, religion provides people with a (potentially) false set of beliefs regarding the nature of reality and what happens when the body dies. If the person is to refute religion, he or she is faced with the notion that there may be no life after death at all. Many people would prefer to live comfortably in the matrix than to be challenged by the truth.

A Buddhist ontology would point to a method of testing reality that relies neither on empiricism nor on religious belief, but rather, direct experience in the "now" (Randrup). Through the Buddhist-style ontology, it is possible that everything is real and nothing is real simultaneously. All thing are possible, but none of those things and none of the realities they entail have any real, lasting, or meaningful substance. In Western societies, the quest for that which is real, lasting, and meaningful is one of the most pressing questions, which is why there is a greater fear of death in Western cultures than in the Eastern ones like Buddhism, which accepts death and the possibility that nothing is actually real.

References

Randrup, Axel. "Idealist Philosophy: What is Real?" Retrieved online: http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/1216/1/reality.html