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Informationen zum Autor Matt Lawrence is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Long Beach City College. Klappentext It's the questions that drive us. What is real? How do you know what is real? Can we be certain that we are not in a Matrix ourselves? Does free will exist inside the Matrix? Does it exist outside the Matrix? Are our minds just our brains? Are sentient machines possible? Is it ever best to take the blue pill? It's the questions that brought you here. The Matrix films are not just about Kung Fu and special effects. Rather, they are about knowledge, reality, consciousness, freedom, fate, foreknowledge, good, evil, faith, enlightenment, and the very meaning of existence. In short, they are about philosophy - with some impressive special effects on the side. Like a Splinter in Your Mind guides you through thirteen of the core philosophical questions that are explored in the Matrix films. You will see how Morpheus manifests Kierkegaard's philosophy of faith, how Neo, the Merovingian, and Ghost exemplify the three major positions on free will, how the objectivity of value judgments are challenged by Agent Smith, and much more. Matt Lawrence brings a philosopher's insight to all three of the Matrix films, giving us a better appreciation of the trilogy, and a solid grasp of key issues in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, philosophy of mind, race and gender, existentialism, Taoism and mysticism. And while his focus is squarely on the films, he also shows us how these questions relate to our own lives and our own philosophical journeys. Zusammenfassung Takes readers through the myriad of philosophical themes within the "Matrix" trilogy! helping them to gain understanding of the films and of philosophy itself. This book offers a way into philosophy through the "Matrix" films. It covers thirteen of the biggest philosophical questions in thirteen self-sufficient chapters suitable for course use. Inhaltsverzeichnis Acknowledgments vi Matrix Quotations Legend viii Introduction: Jacking into the Philosophy Behind the Matrix 1 1 Before the Philosophy: Understanding the Films 7 2 Tumbling Down the Rabbit Hole: Knowledge, Reality, and the Pit of Skepticism 20 3 Mind and Body in Zion 32 4 Are Sentient Machines Possible? 47 5 The Problem is Choice: Control, Free Will, and Causal Determinism 56 6 How to Really Bake Your Noodle: Time, Fate, and the Problem of Foreknowledge 69 7 Virtual Bodies: The Construction of Race and Gender in the Matrix 85 8 Agent Smith's Moral Challenge 102 9 De-Cyphering Right and Wrong 114 10 There Is No Spoon: Reflections on the Material World 127 11 Morpheus and the Leap of Faith 138 12 Facing the Absurd: Existentialism for Humans and Programs 150 13 The Tao of the Code 168 14 Overcoming Your Own Matrix 183 Matrix Cast of Characters 198 Matrix Glossary 207 Cast of Philosophers 214 Index 221 ...
