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Summary: Tumbling Down the Rabitt Hole...The Best So Far
Review: In my opinion the Matrix and Philospohy is the best of the three pop culture and philospohy books published by Irwin so far. While the Simpsons and Seinfeld books both drew philospohical analogies from unexpected yet amusing sources, what makes the Matrix piece different is that it addresses the actual questions movie audiences pondered from experiencing the film. The beauty of this book is in not in the conclusions but rather in the debate itslef. If you enjoyed the movie because Neo "saved the day", then this book isn't for you. But if the wheels in your mind kept churning over whether virtual reality is equal to relaity, then I say take the red pill and see how far this rabbit hole goes. Enjoy!
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Summary: I'm taking college philosophy and this really helped
Review: 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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Summary: Welcome to the desert of these authors minds.
Review: Simply put repetitive and superficial.This book feels like it was written by high school students (not top of the class either) at best. If you need some proof as to the depth of philosophical thought that goes into these essays (most of these supposedly dealing with reality vs apparences, morality, free will) here's a direct quote:
"You'd have to be out of your mind or at least seriously out to lunch to choose the real world ( is that why Keanu Reeves seems so well cast in the role ?)", very insightfull. Later on...
"The Matrix reveals an adolescent fear of the body as something that can veer out of control. This fantasy suits geeky young males who yearn for autonomy and mental powers". This comes from a self titled "feminist philosopher", a geeky old female I guess. Even better is the following: (Talking about the movie Existenz): The film's vivid scenes of penetration and biomorphic connection show that bodies can be both delightful and disgusting". Any adult movie will show you that much. Of course not all the contributors are that silly but in general very few even scratch the surface of the issues that can be raised by carefull enquiry into the nature of reality, perception...
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Summary: disagree with above somewhat
Review: The above author, in talking about the film's religious themes, states that "faith in oneself is a non-theist position" in order to show that the film doesn't advocate any particular stance on religion. First, faith in oneself is not necessarily a non-theist position, i.e., you may think you are God. Secondly, being non-theist does not equate to being religion- neutral. Buddhism in many forms is non-theist. On a different note, the "philosophy" expressed by the film more closely resembled Advaita Vedanta (a monistic school of Hinduism) than any of the other views mentioned in the book.
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Summary: A view from the shadow world
Review: The book was strangely pervasive. Chapter by chapter the authors cite the same sources and say the same thing in slightly different ways. About midway through the book, it becomes clear that the chapters have been written by shadow dwellers describing the same shadows that they see from their shackled platonic position in some common academic cave. Perhaps colleagues, wired through some philosopher's conference, brains in brain vats, enjoying the view from a Matrix of their own making... That in itself makes it an interesting read.
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Summary: I Love this Series:
Review: The Matrix and Philosophy is an outstanding book for someone who basically lives inside their head (as is most of philosophy in general). There is a whole series of these books and three more are in the works. However, I didn't see the book they really need to write, FIGHT CLUB AND PHILOSOPHY. It would be a shame for the authors to overlook publishing a book on that movie. Until then though, there is plenty of brain fodder in Matrix and Philosophy.
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Summary: A solid collection of essays on The Matrix and philosophy
Review: This book contains 20 essays by 20 philosophers covering various parts of the film The Matrix and how they relate to philosophy. The 20 essays are divided into 5 categories. The first group of essays deal with the possibility of the Matrix or some other deceitful reality, the second section includes essays covering implications of The Matrix, the third covers how The Matrix relates to religion and ethics, the fourth section includes the essays covering philosophical themes of The Matrix, and the final section includes essays in which the film is analyzed from different perspectives, including feminism, Marxism, and postmodernism. While almost all of the essays are good, my two favorite essays were #8: "Fate, Freedom, and Foreknowledge" by Theodore Shick, Jr. and #19: "The Matrix Simulation and the Postmodern Age" by David Weberman. Both were interesting and thought-provoking. At least two of the essays, though, contain serious flaws. Essay #7: "Neo-Materialism and the Death of the Subject" by Daniel Barwick is seriously flawed in its critique of reductive materialism. The author quotes a passage from Michael Tye noting the difference between experiencing different colors and merely learning what it's like to experience different colors. This passage and the subsequent discussion of it are relevant neither to reductive materialism or to The Matrix. A more relevant situation would be one in which 2 people perceive what they think is a real tree, but only one of them is actually perceiving a real tree while the other is only receiving computer generated electrical signals that give the false perception of a tree, as what differentiates one's perceptions in reality and The Matrix is not the perceptions themselves, but rather the source of those perceptions. Essay #10: "The Religion of The Matrix and the Problems of Pluralism" by Gregory Bassham describes the references to religion in The Matrix, and finds the film to be supportive of religious pluralism. While the film does indeed borrow plot and character archetypes from religion, that does not make the film religious or supportive of a view towards religion, such as pluralism or exclusivism. The Wachowskis commented in an interview that the film was about "Faith in oneself," which is a non-theist position. It was somewhat annoying how nearly every one of the essayists repeat how The Matrix is similar to Plato's "The Cave" allegory and how The Matrix is similar to Descartes' malicious demon thought-experiment. Also, in almost every essay the dialogue from the scene in which Cypher is eating the steak while making the deal with Agent Smith is quoted and analyzed. Instead, perhaps, the first 3 essays could have been devoted to 1 of the 3 things exclusively (The first essay is devoted primarily to the "The Cave" allegory) so they wouldn't have had to be repeated in almost every essay. Also, I was a bit disappointed that none of the essayists noted the more likely, but not nearly as interesting scenario that should, but probably won't, be revealed in the final 3 minutes of the 3rd film: The year is actually 2399, not 2199, and none of the thought to be real events, places, or even people (which no longer exist) are indeed real, and instead everything took place as part of a computer simulation onboard one of the A.I. machines, of what might have happened if the A.I. machines had used human energy to continue their existence on Earth, instead of solar energy that the A.I. machines really use to continue their existence in outer-space, as it floats benignly through space. Overall, though, I enjoyed this book. If you liked the film and are interested in philosophy then I think you'll find this book enjoyable and thought-provoking. If you didn't like The Matrix and are not interested in philosophy or have studied philosophy extensively, then this book probably isn't for you.
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Summary: For those REALLY serious about understanding the movie
Review: This collection of philosophical essays is a painless introduction to philosophy. Reading it won't necessariy help you ace Philosophy 101 exams, but careful reading will help you see the important points of the movie along with helping you understand basic philosophical concepts. Relating basic philosophical concepts to a popular and enjoyable movie is bound to improve your mind. But don't let that scare you. You'll end up enjoying it immensely. Trust me.
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Summary: Neo, Plato, Morpheus, Kant, Trinity, and Descartes
Review: This is a collection of essays by philosophy professors ostensibly discussing the philosophical issues raised by The Matrix movie. As a collection, it does not form an organic whole: each essay stands alone without reference to any other. As such, there are endless retellings of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Descartes' Dream Hypothesis, and other philosophical canons that have a connection to the themes raised by the movie. As a collection of discreet essays, it is not surprising that some essays are much better than others. The better essays stay close to the movie, specifically referencing scenes and themes to philosophical topics. The less engaging essays merely use the movie as a launching pad from which to discuss their own philosophical points. An example of the former type of essay is written by Cynthia Freeland of the University of Houston, who makes an interesting comparison between The Matrix and another 1999 sci-fi thriller: eXistenZ (starring Jude Law). An example of the latter type of essay is Slavoj Zizek's virtually unreadable contribution, "The Matrix: Or, The Two Sides of Perversion". Here's a line from Dr. Zizek's essay which will illustrate my point: "Hegel introduces here three terms: when a screen intervenes between ourselves and the Real, it always generates a notion of what is In-itself, beyond the screen (of the appearance), so that the gap between appearance and the In-itself is always-already 'for us.'" .....Whatever. My advice to the reader is to assess each essay by reading the first few paragraphs and then deciding whether reading the whole chapter is worth your time. There are several essays in this book well-worth skipping.
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Summary: The Matrix and Philosophy: A Review
Review: 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?"
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