Herr Weaver

Similarities between Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and
The Matrix
1. Certain people know more than others. (Trinity
and the Agents at the beginning of the movie.)
– Certain people know the truth while others live
in ignorance.
2. People who are able to move freely in and out of
the Matrix/Cave- "Enlightened Ones"
3. Enlightened people who are willing to take a
huge risk, risking even their lives, to enlighten
others in the Matrix.
4. At the very beginning of the movie Trinity is
able to freely (but not easily) escape out of the
dark abandoned building where she is surrounded
by police.
5. "Wake up Neo!" Quote on Neo’s computer 6.
References to Alice in Wonderland- in the story
Alice falls into a hole (cave) in
the ground and discovers an entire other world there.
She does this by following a white rabbit.
7. "You’re my savior. My own personal Jesus Christ."
Neo’s friend buying software. 8. "You’re looking
for an answer. It’s the question. What is the Matrix?"
Trinity to
Neo in nightclub. (What is the Matrix is repeated
over and over in the first half of the movie. Similar
to a Socratic question: What is justice, truth, and
virtue?
9. "The answer is out there." Trinity to Neo in
nightclub. A Socratic type belief that an absolute
answer does exist.
10. At Neo’s job he is secluded in an undecorated
cubicle. He is slouched in his chair staring at a
blank computer screen. (Similar to captives at the
bottom of the cave. The Allegory of the Cave has
been used by Labor Rights activists to show
workers there is another world beyond being
chained to an assembly line, cubicle, etc.)
11. When Morpheus first calls Neo on the delivered
cell phone Neo knows immediately who is on the
phone without having ever met him before.
– Neo knows before he thinks he knows. "All truth
comes from within." – Socrates
12. The way to get out of the office (cave) is tough,
scary, Neo is unsure of his ability, doesn’t know,
and gets in a tough spot outside the office window.
( To ascend out of the cave is difficult in the same
way reaching enlightenment is difficult.) "I can’t do
this!"- Neo on the ledge outside the building.
13. "Your other life is lived in computers" – Agent
to Neo at the interrogation (Again the imagery of
life at the bottom of the cave.)
14. "You are a slave. You were born into bondage,
a prison for your mind." Morpheus to Neo.
15. When Morpheus and Neo meet he talks about
a feeling that has been bothering Neo for a long time.
"A feeling that is like a splinter in your mind"
Morpheus calls it. "Do you want to know what
"it" is?"
Morpheus asks Neo. If all knowledge is within us then this limited view of the Forms that we have are what push us, guide us, prod us, bother us, etc. to ask certain questions.
16. "Have you ever had a dream you were so sure was real. How would you know the difference between the dream and the real world?" Morpheus to Neo
(On the lowest level of the theory of knowledge one of our examples were dreams. We also had there images,
reflections, symbols, etc.)
The physical cave where most all humans lived in
the movie were in the pods where they were attached to electrical impulses designed to manipulate them into believing they were in reality. Once he was freed from the pod he slides out of his cave. The next moments are not east for Neo leaving the pod. He is immediately in a dark, watery, cave like atmosphere until he is raised to the real world.
18. "Welcome to the real world." Morpheus to Neo 19.
"Why do my eyes hurt?" -"Because you never used
them before." Morpheus
and Neo (Remember the freed slave in the cave also
has problems with his vision when he is confronted
with the real world.)
20. "What is real? How do you define real?"
- Morpheus Underlying question of metaphysics
21. When Neo learns different forms of Karate does
the machine he is hooked up to teach him or did
he always know all "forms" of Karate and the machine is somehow a mechanized "Socratic instructor" jogging his pre life with the Forms? Could the same could be said about Trinity learning how to fly a helicopter in a few seconds. Has a highly affective version of the Socratic Method been put on CD roms?
22. "You’ve been living in a dream world, Neo."
-Morpheus 23. The Oracle - The person at the Oracle
is a woman like the prophetess in Delphi There
was a man born into the Matrix who was able to
move freely in and out of the Matrix. The Oracle
prophesized he would return. Neo goes to the
Oracle to receive a disappointing answer from the
prophetess there. Socrates also receives a
disappointing answer from the prophetess at the
Oracle of Delphi . The prophecy however turns
out for the best in the end. 24. The Oracle has a
plaque above the doorway which reads, "Know
Thyself". This is exactly the quote which hung
above the doorway to the Oracle of Delphi This
is also very similar to Socrates’ quote "The
unexamined life is not worth living." 25. "Humans
define their reality by their misery." Agent to
Morpheus 26. Humans are a nuisance and a virus
to the world- (paraphrased) How was Socrates
seen in Athens? 27. "You have to remember that
most people will fight to preserve the Matrix."
– Morpheus to Neo There is a reference in the
Allegory of the Cave to the freed prisoner returning
to free the other prisoners only to be met with
hostility.
28. "I know this steak doesn’t exist. When I put
it in my mouth the Matrix tells me it is soft and
juicy. After nine years I’ve learned one thing.
"Ignorance is bliss."
-Cypher to the Agent This obviously is in direct
conflict with Socrates’ teaching which says,
"ignorance is the only sin" however Plato does
make reference in the Allegory of the Cave to those
people who prefer the world of shadows and
ignorance. The world at the bottom of the cave,
the world of shadows, is a much easier and more
comfortable world.
"The body can’t live without the mind." – echoes
back to the tripartite soul and the Platonic belief
that we are beings of physical body and soul.
30. Cypher says to Neo, "So he asked you to save
the world? Jesus! What do you say to
Something like that?" Very Messianic reference
regarding a savior. Also, Cypher’s question could
be turned to all Christian "believers".
"What do you say to a thing like that?"
Cypher then goes on in the very next
scene to play a "Judas" role.

Intro. to Philosophy
Mr. Weaver
Home phone: 918-557-8852 
Email: kweaver@casciahall.org  or  herrweaver@email.com 
http://teacherweb.com/OK/CasciaHall/KevinWeaver/index.html 
This class will cover some of the major thinkers in western philosophy.  We will begin by discussing some 
major philosophical topics and questions.  We will also begin by clarifying some terminology.  Then we will 
move on to the philosophers themselves.  Thales, Pythagoras, Zeno, Empedocles, Socrates, Plato, Protagoras, Aristotle, Aurelius, St. Augustine, St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Kant, Kierkegaard, Marx, Sartre.  
 
The bulk of the class will be lecture but discussion is always welcome as long as it directly pertains to our subject.  Students will need only a spiral or notebook with a section dedicated to philosophy.  They will need only two books: “The Trial and Death of Socrates” and “Does the Center Hold?”.  Students will be expected to take notes and be prepared for quizzes and tests.  There will be a reading schedule for “Does the Center Hold?”.
 
Tests and quizzes will all be worth 100pts each.  The average of all of your test grades will be worth 2/3 of 
 
 
your grade and the average of all your quizzes will be worth 1/3 of your final grade.
 
Example:  Let’s say your test average is 88% and your quiz average if 75%.  
 
  88
  88
+75
 251
Then I would divide 251 by 3 to get your average.  Here it would be about 83%.
100-90 A, 89-80 B, 79-70 C, 69-60 D, 59-0 F
 
This course is part of the Senior Seminar.  After the first quarter of this semester you will move on to another 
class.  In the third quarter you will have another class.  In the fourth quarter you will not have a first period 
class but will be expected to be working on a Senior Thesis.  This thesis is to incorporate a topic from one or 
more of the three courses you took as part of the Senior Seminar.  Your third quarter class grade and your 
paper written in the fourth quarter will be averaged together to make your final second semester grade.  
There will be more information given out later about the Senior Thesis but it should be an academic, well 
researched, focused paper.  All of the normal documentation and style rules from the English department are 
to be used on the Senior Thesis.  It’s not too early to be thinking about a topic…

PERIOD. Intro to Philosophy Senior Seminar 2009-2010 Reading Schedule for Does the Center Hold?: An Introduction to Western Philosophy by Donald Palmer. This is your reading schedule for “Does the Center Hold?” After each section of reading (basically every two weeks but can be longer or shorter) there will be a quiz. ____________________________________________________________ Weeks 1 & 2 Chapters 1 and 2 Pgs. 1-74 Quiz on Monday Feb. 16th ________________________________________________(or Tuesday Feb. 17th for Pres. day Weeks 3 & 4 Chapter 5 Pgs. 158-210 Quiz on March 2nd _____________________________________________________ Weeks 5 & 6 Chapter 6 Pgs. 213-252 Quiz on March 16th ____________________________________________________ (For Final Exam) Chapters 8 and 9 Pgs. 299- 386 (Quiz will be a part of the class final)

Philosophy Homework

Wrapping up a few loose ends with Socrates and Plato -