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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The many faces of Keanu Reeves as hero Neo-Christ, Buddha, Socrates-are explored in these essays on the philosophical implications of the sci-fi martial arts blockbuster The Matrix, collected by the editor of Seinfeld and Philosophy and The Simpsons and Philosophy. According to the academics assembled here, when messianic hacker Neo kick-boxes the Matrix's virtual-reality dream-prison, he is really struggling with some of mankind's biggest conundrums: the nature of truth and reality, the possibility of free will, the mind-body problem and the alienation of labor in late-capitalist society. The tacit goal here is to make philosophy fun for the general reader by orienting it to pop-culture reference points, so while some articles contain rather dense philosophical jargon, most are pitched at the level of a freshman intro course. But only a few chapters delve into the movie's aesthetics; the rest seem to use The Matrix as a peg on which to hang a canned philosophy lecture. The results are occasionally engaging, as with David Mitsuo Nixon's nifty refutation of the "reality is just an illusion" conceit, but they're too often dryly academic and liable to elicit no more than a drowsy "whoa" from the movie's legions of fans.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
Is the world around us truly as it appears or are we inert bodies in tanks, our brains subjected to electronic stimulation creating a make-believe world of hallucination? The Keanu Reeves cult sci-fi movie, The Matrix, vividly conveyed the excitement and the horror of a fake world made of nothing but perceptions, substituting for a real world of grim despair. Since The Matrix is probably the most overtly philosophical movie ever to have come out of Hollywood it has popularised issues on which philosophers have a lot to say. The Matrix and Philosophy is from the same team of cool, capable, young philosophers who created The Simpsons and Philosophy, which redefined the market for a work by serious philosophers. It has 20 new, thoughtful essays on philosophical problems raised by The Matrix, many of which focus on the issues "Can we be sure the world is really there, and if not, what should we do about it?" The book also explores other philosophical puzzles including ethical ones like Cypher's decision to choose a pleasurable fake world over a wretched real one.
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First Sentence
Many people recognize The Matrix as a retelling of "the greatest story ever told." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Many people recognize The Matrix as a retelling of "the greatest story ever told." Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the desert of the boring...,
By
This review is from: The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert Of the Real (Paperback)
First let me say that I'm a big MATRIX fan. I also have a passion for philosophy. I had high hopes for this book but was soon dissapointed. With each new essay I felt I was starting over. The cave analogy became tiresome and I often found the different essayist going over the same topics. The other writters seem to use the movie to go off on ideas that have little to do with the movie. If you're just starting out in philosophy this might make an o.k. introduction otherwise I would keep looking.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Matrix and Philosophy: A Review,
By "g4m3rguy5676" (Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert Of the Real (Paperback)
When I first picked up the book, I expected to find the usual correlations between the Matrix and Christianity. You know...Neo being Jesus, Morpheus the Holy Spirit, etc. However, this is not what this book contains. The Matrix and Philosophy is a collection of essays and other writings that compare ideas presented in The Matrix with philosophical writings from throughout history. The entire book is centered around one question; is the world presented in The Matrix a possibility? Throughout the book the "Matrix Possibility" is put up against writings of Descartes, Robert Nozick, and many other philosophical writers. I was very impressed with book overall and would recommend this book to almost any fan of the Matrix that has asked themselves "Is it really possible?"
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm taking college philosophy and this really helped,
By Kevin (California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert Of the Real (Paperback)
Of course I bought this book, simply because of the words "The Matrix", because I am a fan of the movies (well, the first one anyway). I found the philosophy essays in this book, just like in the movies, intriguing and enlightening. They've really helped me in my class and in my life. Of course, such philosophical lessons can also be learned in regular sci-fi and even cyberpunk, such as "Neuromancer" or "Mona Lisa Overdrive" or even action-oriented cyberpunk sci-fi like "Darkeye: Cyber Hunter". All deal with a certain amount of philosophy which is what makes them such good books to own and read. Don't just read what's on the surface of anything fictional, look beneath it.
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