Renee Waid

Philosophy 243
3/26/16

The Nature of the Real:

The Allegory of the Cave, The Matrix and Interrelatedness

There isnt a more memorable ontological discourse then that of Platos Allegory

of the Cave. This brief section of the Republic outlines the different concepts that form

the foundation of Platos philosophy, including the importance of Reason, the

consequences of ignorance, and the true nature of reality. In this essay, Ill delve into

Platos Allegory of the Cave and compare it to the 1999 movie The Matrix. The Matrix

serves as a modern day philosophical movie that borrows heavily from the Allegory.

Finally, Ill illustrate the similarities and contrasting ideas between Buddhist ideology and

the principals found in the Allegory.

Platos Allegory of the Cave provides the following imagery: When you first enter

the cave, youll see five people facing a wall. Theyre chained and cannot move.

Shadows dance before them against a wall theyre facing. Behind them, men are moving

left to right carrying objects that reflect off the wall. Behind both the prisoners and the

men is a large fire. The chained men can only see the shadows of these objects the men

behind them move around. They cant see the objects themselves unless they turn their

heads and look behind them. Until theyre willing to adjust themselves, the true nature of

what theyre seeing eludes them. All theyll be able to comprehend are shadows.

Unfortunately, theyll mistake these shadows for reality.

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 To paraphrase some of the material in the Roots of Wisdom (pg 32-34), the cave is

the ordinary world. The chained men and women facing the wall represents humanity,

who know nothing more than the dimly lit cave theyve been born into. Their chains

represent their entrapment in the world of the senses. Most people can only comprehend

what they feel, see, and touch. However, their senses deceive them, as the things they

think are real are only shadows. The people in the background could be thought of as

Puppeteers. These Puppeteers understand the nature of reality but control the way the

chained men and women perceive it by controlling the objects that cast shadows on the

wall. Ultimately, the Allegory teaches us that the chains are self-imposed. In order to

understand the truth of reality, all we have to do is turn our heads and reject the illusion.

We have to move beyond whats in front of us and look deeper into the world around us

in order to apprehend the truth. According to Plato, we can only do this by appealing to

reason, as our senses deceive us. The mouth of the cave is represents the journey from the

world of the senses to the world of reason. Turning toward wisdom is turning away from

the illusions within the cave. Given the Allegorys popularity, its no wonder that many

different forms of media have latched onto the allegory as an underlying storyline. On

such modern day rendition of the allegory can be found in the 1999 movie the Matrix.

There are many comparisons between the Allegory and The Matrix. The Matrix is

about a computer hacker named Neo who goes on an adventure to escape the matrix of

ordinary reality, and save humanity by setting people who are still trapped in the matrix

free. Before he can do this however, Neo must save himself. He can only do this by

gradually learning to accept the world for what it truly is, and his place in it. Neo turns

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out to be the One the Savior of humanity who will help free humanity from the illusory

world they are born in.

The matrix itself can be likened to the cave in Platos Allegory. The people of this

matrix are bound to the illusionary world without knowing it. They mistakenly believe

that this world is the only reality since they can see, hear, and touch the world around

them. However, much like the captives in the cave, the objects (i.e the things they see

and experience in their day-to-day life) are simply shadows. The Matrix references this

analogy in the scene that shows Neo escaping the matrix. In this scene we see that Neo

and the rest of the humans are all encased (i.e chained) in pods in the real world. They are

figuratively chained, in a realm of fantasy.

Morpheus is a guide who seeks to help release Neo from the matrix. Oddly

enough, his name in the Matrix hints at his role in the movie since Morpheus is the god of

dreams in Roman mythology. According to the mythos, Morpheus is capable of entering

and leaving dreams as he pleases, much like how Morpheus is capable of entering and

leaving the matrix whenever he wants in the movie. Morpheus is a man whos escaped

the cave and reentered it to help save humanity. When Neo first talks to Morpheus, he

thinks hes insane, which makes sense. Morpheus often references bending the laws of

physics, and wants Neo to do things that could get him killed. In one scene, he tells Neo

to step out of the window into a scaffold thats hundreds of feet off the ground. Neo cant

do this and instead choses to be detained by agent Smith. The Roots of Wisdom references

the fact that the men who have been out of the cave and decided to come back are often

seen as mentally unstable (pg.34).

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 There are also people in the matrix whore comparable to the men and women

who move objects around and cast shadows that people can see. Those people in the

matrix are the computer programs. Agent Smith, the Oracle, and the Source control

various aspects of the matrix, much like how the people in the fire control the objects in

front of the fire. In one scene Agent Smith detains Neo for questioning. After Neo asks

for his phone call in the detention center, Agent Smith seals his mouth shut, showing that

hes capable of controlling the illusionary laws of reality that comprise the matrix. This

directly compares to the Puppeteers control of the objects behind the captives.

The Allegory of the Cave isnt the only notable ontological discourse about the

nature of reality. There are many belief systems that seem to directly compare and

contradict the Allegory, bringing their own flavor to various concepts within the realm of

metaphysics. Buddhism is one such philosophy that helps shed light on the human

condition.

Much like the Allegory, Buddhism teaches that even though the world around us

seems real its an illusion. This is similar to how the captives in the Allegory gaze upon

the shadows on the wall and assume they are real. However, Buddhism does divorce

itself in many ways with Platos ideology. In the Allegory, Plato explains that though our

preconceived notions of reality are false, reality is actually held in Forms that serve as

templates for the objects themselves. In other words, the physical objects are the Forms

of Platonic metaphysics. The shadows that we mistake for reality are distorted notions of

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the Forms themselves. For example, we can create things that we find beautiful, be it a

chair or a piece of art, but when we do this we arent gazing at the pure Form of Beauty

itself. The only way we can begin to see things as they are is to look at things more

abstractly, i.e. by using logic. Then we can perceive Beauty through abstraction.

In Buddhism however, there are no fixed Forms behind the illusion. Theres only

emptiness. Buddhism emphasizes the interrelatedness of all things and their dependence

on one another in order to exist. An excellent example of this idea can be shown using the

example of a car being taken apart. Imagine a blue car sitting in front of you. If you take

the engine away does it stop being a car? If you take the exhaust pipe away, is it still a

car? What about if you take the seats away? How many parts of the car do you have to

take away before it stops being a car? Eventually, when you take away enough of the

cars parts only an empty space will remain where the car once stood. There are no Forms

behind the illusion in Buddhist Metaphysics. In fact, there isnt anything at all.

That being said, Platonic metaphysics, the Matrix, and Buddhist ideologies all

include the archetype of a Savior figure. In Platos Allegory, this is the individual whos

freed himself from the captivity and stepped out into the light of reason, only to come

back try to convince his fellow man of light inside the cave. In the Matrix, this person

would be Morpheus and Neo who seek to save people from the matrix. In Buddhism,

were introduced to the concept of the Bodhisattva, the Hero who chooses to be reborn

over and over again to help humanity free themselves from a life of ignorance.

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 In conclusion, there are many different belief systems that try to explain the

nature of the world around us. The Allegory of the Cave urges us to unchain ourselves

from our ignorance and turn toward reason. The Matrix does the same, providing modern

day examples that borrow heavily from the Allegory. Finally, Buddhism does differ from

the Allegory in many ways, namely in its conception of the nature of reality and the

reason humanity suffers. These studies show the human impulse to know more about the

world around us, and our attempt to discover our purpose. Perhaps one day well

understand. Until then, we can only hope and reach toward the Truth.

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 References

Mitchell, Hellen B. The Roots of Wisdom: A Tapestry of Philosophical Traditions.

3rd ed., Columbia, Engage Learning, 2015

Morpheus, the Greek God of Dreams Who Delivered Messages to the Mortal

World." Ancient Origins: Reconstructing the Story of Humanities Past, Blair

House, Jan. 2013, www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/morpheus-

greek-god-dreams-who-delivered-messages-gods-mortal-world-002318. Accessed

26 Mar. 2017
Reeves, Keanu, Lawrence Fishburne, and Carrie Ann-Moss, Actor. The Matrix.

2013. Directed by Lana Wachowski and Lily Wachowski1999