I heard there was some extra credit for posting on the blog.  Here it is.

Greg Karabinos

Philosophy

The Matrix

October 24, 2009

                                                            Ethics

            Throughout the Matrix, Neo is faced with many ethical issues.  He must decide weather it is wrong to kill regular humans in the Matrix even if they are following the instructions of the machines.   In addition to this he is faced with a choice: is sacrificing one to save the lives of many morally correct?  Also, he has to choose between his race and the machines.  Even though Neo does not contemplate ethics as much as what is real and unreal they are presented to the viewer as very distinct choices.  Each time a moral decision is made in the movie, the viewer is guided to his own conclusion.

            While walking through a simulation of the Matrix, Morpheus explains to Neo that the matrix is a system and that system is their enemy.  He continues, explaining that in this system all the people that inhabit it, the people they are trying to free are their enemies as long as they are plugged into the Matrix.  Ironically, Morpheus and his band cause more harm to the other humans in the Matrix than the machines.  They kill countless innocents.  Neo accepts this decision without hesitation and shows little remorse in killing and maiming these cogs in the Matrix.  Even though it would be impossible for Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus to complete their objectives without this killing, the morality of this is still questionable.  In modern wars, civilian casualties are strongly avoided.  This is largely due to the fact that each country must answer to the public and other countries.  However, Morpheus does not answer to anyone in the Matrix or the real world, during the entire movie he does not have contact with any humans superior to him in the real world.  Because of this he is able to make his own decisions, even if they are immoral. 

            Morpheus helps Neo overlook the moral issues regarding to killing the humans in the Matrix, but Neo must make his own decision when the agents capture Morpheus.  The agents are trying to coerce Morpheus into giving them the codes to Zion, the last human city.  Neo, Trinity, and Tank are confronted with a choice.  They have to decide weather it is morally correct to kill Morpheus for the greater good.  They all know that Morpheus would rather die than give up the codes to Zion to the robots.  But can they make that decision for him?  This is a debated issue today in the modern world in the form of assisted suicide.  Is it principled to assist someone’s suicide or is it merely murder?  In the Matrix Neo comes up with an answer to this difficult decision.  He creates a third option.  Instead of letting Morpheus die or murdering him, Neo attempts a daring rescue.  To the viewers, this is the most honorable option and it skirts the difficult questions resulting from the choice Neo would have had to make.  Can one value a human life?  Can a human life be defined by dollars, or is it measurable in other human lives?  Are certain lives worth more than others?  The Matrix presents the viewer with this question but moves on before the viewer can make a decision.

            One of the most important questions of the movie is presented to Neo when he must choose between the Humans and the machines.  Although he makes this choice early in the movie when he allies himself with Morpheus, we see that other humans were not as committed as he.  Cipher, one of Morpheus’s band betrays them to the agents, computer programs designed to protect the Matrix.  While Cipher’s choice is motivated by pure self-gain, it brings doubt to the viewer.  Who is right, the machines or humans?  Morpheus admits that the humans were the ones who scorched the sky and Agent Smith compares the humans to a virus consuming more and more territory and using up many natural resources.  Even though the viewer is clearly intended to support the humans regardless of their past failures, it may not be as obvious choice.  Once Neo joins with the humans the machines are bent on his destruction.  This forces him to accept the humans as his allies despite his lack of facts.

            A viewer of the Matrix is able to question the ethics displayed in the Matrix without the pressure the characters are under.  With less resources and time the characters are forced to compromise their ethics occasionally to survive while a viewer has the luxury of principles.  Even though the characters may seem to be mercenaries, they are in fact devout believers adhering strictly to their cause.  Their enduring goal is to free the humans from the Matrix but their immediate goal is to merely survive.  Thus they are compelled to make decisions with less thought to ethics than usual.