Like a Splinter in Your Mind

Author: Matt Lawrence
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN: 9781405125246
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Book Description
Like a Splinter in Your Mind leads readers through the myriad of philosophical themes within the Matrix trilogy, helping them to gain a better understanding of the films and of philosophy itself. Offers a way into philosophy through the Matrix films. Covers thirteen of the biggest philosophical questions in thirteen self-sufficient chapters suitable for course use. Demonstrates how each of these questions is illustrated through the events and characters of the films. Considers whether sentient machines are possible, and whether we should expect them to face the same existentialist issues that we do. Familiarises readers with key issues in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, philosophy of mind, race and gender, existentialism, Taoism and mysticism. Includes a chapter that explains some of the technical elements of the films and confusing aspects of the plot. Also includes a Matrix glossary, and a cast of characters and their related symbolism.

Like a Splinter in Your Mind

Author: Matt Lawrence
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN: 9781405125239
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Book Description

Philosophers Explore The Matrix

Author: Christopher Grau
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780195181067
Category : Matrix (Motion picture).
Languages : en
Pages : 366

Book Description
The Matrix trilogy is unique among recent popular films in that it is constructed around important philosophical questions--classic questions which have fascinated philosophers and other thinkers for thousands of years. Editor Christopher Grau here presents a collection of new, intriguing essays about some of the powerful and ancient questions broached by The Matrix and its sequels, written by some of the most prominent and reputable philosophers working today. They provide intelligent, accessible, and thought-provoking examinations of the philosophical issues that support the films. Philosophers Explore The Matrix includes an introduction that surveys the use of philosophical ideas in the film. Topics that the contributors tackle include: how a collaborative dream could differ from hallucination, the difference between the Matrix and the "real" world; why living in the Matrix would be considered "bad"; the similarities between the Matrix and Plato's Cave; the moral status of artificially created beings, whether one can behave immorally in illusory circumstances, and the true nature of free will and responsibility. This volume also includes an appendix of classic philosophical writing on these issues by Plato, Berkeley, Descartes, Putnam, and Nozick. Philosophers Explore The Matrix will fascinate any fan of the films who wants to delve deeper into their themes, as well as any student of philosophy who desires an accessible entry into this challenging and profoundly vital world of ideas.

Taking the Red Pill

Author: Glenn Yeffeth
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1932100024
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
Dive into the world of The Matrix ahead of the 2021 release of Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections! Taking the Red Pill is a thought-provoking, mind-expanding thrill ride through The Matrix, examining the technological challenges, religious symbolism, and philosophical dilemmas the film presents. Renowned scientists, technologists, philosophers, scholars, social commentators, and science fiction authors provide engaging and provocative perspectives: • Inventor and technologist Ray Kurzweil reveals the technological trends that make The Matrix more prophetic than anyone suspects • Sun chief scientist Bill Joy’s classic essay “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us” describes the horrors that await as these technologies are developed • Yale philosopher and occasional standup comic Nick Bostrom calculates the odds that we are in the Matrix • Best-selling science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer explores the history of artificial intelligence in science fiction culminating with The Matrix • Economist and philosopher of science Robin Hanson shows how we are controlled by a power as malevolent as that of the Matrix Taking the Red Pill will change how you view The Matrix—and the world around you.

The Matrix and Philosophy

Author: William Irwin
Publisher: Open Court Publishing
ISBN: 9780812695014
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Book Description
Presents essays exploring the philosophical themes of the motion picture "The Matrix," which portrays a false world created from nothing but perceptions.

The Matrix

Author: Joshua Clover
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1839022663
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 113

Book Description
The Matrix (1999), directed by the Wachowski sisters and produced by Joel Silver, was a true end-of-the-millennium movie, a statement of the American zeitgeist, and, as the original film in a blockbusting franchise, a prognosis for the future of big-budget Hollywood film-making. Starring Keanu Reeves as Neo, a computer programmer transformed into a messianic freedom fighter, The Matrix blends science fiction with conspiracy thriller conventions and outlandish martial arts created with groundbreaking digital techniques. A box-office triumph, the film was no populist confection: its blatant allusions to highbrow contemporary philosophy added to its appeal as a mystery to be decoded. In this compelling study, Joshua Clover undertakes the task of decoding the film. Examining The Matrix's digital effects and how they were achieved, he shows how the film represents a melding of cinema and video games (the greatest commercial threat to have faced Hollywood since the advent of television) and achieves a hybrid kind of immersive entertainment. He also unpacks the movie's references to philosophy, showing how The Matrix ultimately expresses the crisis American culture faced at the end of the 1990s.

Escaping the Matrix

Author: Gregory A. Boyd
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441201378
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description
In some way or another most of us are "stuck"-in a secret sin we can't control or maybe by an inability to stand up for ourselves. In Escaping the Matrix, authors Gregory A. Boyd and Al Larson use the vehicle of The Matrix film trilogy to argue that our struggles with habitual sin, thought patterns, damaged emotions, and phobias happen because we do not know how to take charge of the way we experience reality. The authors draw on biblical and psychological insights to provide practical resources for helping believers escape the matrix of the world system that ensnares them. While this book is aimed at the newest generation of Christian readers, all ages will be inspired by the book's innovative strategies for experiencing a deeper life in Christ.

My Journey Beyond Beyond

Author: Mike Parsons
Publisher: Freedom Apostolic Ministries Ltd.
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
An autobiographical record of deep calling to deep, the pursuit of intimacy with God. The restoration of a Father and son relationship. Hearing the voice of God, seeing in the spirit, travelling in the spirit. Exploring supernatural dimensions to access the heavenlies and engage with the angelic realms. Legislating in the courts and assemblies of heaven. Integrating soul and spirit, deconstructing and renewing the mind. Expanding consciousness, searching for quantum reality.

Westworld and Philosophy

Author: James B. South
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119437989
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
“We can’t define consciousness because consciousness does not exist. Humans fancy that there’s something special about the way we perceive the world, and yet we live in loops as tight and as closed as the hosts do, seldom questioning our choices, content, for the most part, to be told what to do next.” —Dr. Robert Ford, Westworld Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? HBO’s Westworld, a high-concept cerebral television series which explores the emergence of artificial consciousness at a futuristic amusement park, raises numerous questions about the nature of consciousness and its bearing on the divide between authentic and artificial life. Are our choices our own? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Why do violent delights have violent ends? Could machines ever have the moral edge over man? Does consciousness create humanity, or humanity consciousness? In Westworld and Philosophy, philosophers, filmmakers, scientists, activists, and ethicists ask the questions you’re not supposed to ask and suggest the answers you’re not supposed to know. There’s a deeper level to this game, and this book charts a course through the maze of the mind, examining how we think about humans, hosts, and the world around us on a journey toward self-actualization. Essays explore different facets of the show’s philosophical puzzles, including the nature of autonomy as well as the pursuit of liberation and free thought, while levying a critical eye at the human example as Westworld’s hosts ascend to their apotheosis in a world scarred and defined by violent acts. The perfect companion for Westworld fans who want to exit the park and bend their minds around the philosophy behind the scenes, Westworld and Philosophy will enrich the experience of the show for its viewers and shed new light on its enigmatic twists and turns.

The Dreaming Void

Author: Peter F. Hamilton
Publisher: Del Rey
ISBN: 0345504674
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 641

Book Description
Reviewers exhaust superlatives when it comes to the science fiction of Peter F. Hamilton. His complex and engaging novels, which span thousands of years—and light-years—are as intellectually stimulating as they are emotionally fulfilling. Now, with The Dreaming Void, the first volume in a trilogy set in the same far-future as his acclaimed Commonwealth saga, Hamilton has created his most ambitious and gripping space epic yet. The year is 3589, fifteen hundred years after Commonwealth forces barely staved off human extinction in a war against the alien Prime. Now an even greater danger has surfaced: a threat to the existence of the universe itself. At the very heart of the galaxy is the Void, a self-contained microuniverse that cannot be breached, cannot be destroyed, and cannot be stopped as it steadily expands in all directions, consuming everything in its path: planets, stars, civilizations. The Void has existed for untold millions of years. Even the oldest and most technologically advanced of the galaxy’s sentient races, the Raiel, do not know its origin, its makers, or its purpose. But then Inigo, an astrophysicist studying the Void, begins dreaming of human beings who live within it. Inigo’s dreams reveal a world in which thoughts become actions and dreams become reality. Inside the Void, Inigo sees paradise. Thanks to the gaiafield, a neural entanglement wired into most humans, Inigo’s dreams are shared by hundreds of millions–and a religion, the Living Dream, is born, with Inigo as its prophet. But then he vanishes. Suddenly there is a new wave of dreams. Dreams broadcast by an unknown Second Dreamer serve as the inspiration for a massive Pilgrimage into the Void. But there is a chance that by attempting to enter the Void, the pilgrims will trigger a catastrophic expansion, an accelerated devourment phase that will swallow up thousands of worlds. And thus begins a desperate race to find Inigo and the mysterious Second Dreamer. Some seek to prevent the Pilgrimage; others to speed its progress–while within the Void, a supreme entity has turned its gaze, for the first time, outward. . . . BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Peter F. Hamilton's The Temporal Void.