More Matrix and Philosophy: Revolutions and Reloaded Decoded

...after, of course, you see it for yourself. The second book on the subject compiled by William Irwin, More Matrix & Philosophy is more carefully crafted, passionate and brilliant writings on The Matrix trilogy and the films' place in both popular culture and philosophical debate. Irwin brings together an array of different -- and often conflicting -- voices in both this volume and the original book. You won't agree with all of the writer's opinions, but they'll all make you think. And of course, inspired thought is what The Matrix trilogoy is all about, to those of us who know the films contain more than slick action sequences and cool costumes. Irwin's newest book is further proof that we are not alone. We, The Matrixheads, are not the only ones lying awake at night thinking of these films' broader implications, and here are sixteen essays that prove it. Go ahead, read the book. But I warn you: all Irwin offers is the truth. All 16 versions of it. Can you handle it, a bit further down the rabbit hole?

Being a majorly fanatical fan of anything connected with The Matrix, I was also somewhat disappointed at first with the two sequels. So, with some interest, I approached "More Matrix and Philosophy" wondering what the contributors were going to say about these two movies. First up, as others have mentioned, I would also reiterate that one should read "The Matrix and Philosophy" before approaching this book. Some contributors make reference to that book, and use it as a spring board for some further development of ideas. Also, on one occassion, a contributor in "More Matrix" takes a mild stab at a contributor in the first volume. In this current volume, one is taken through 4 Scenes, which have 16 essays categorised across them. Some who contributed to the last book are back again. The essays cover a very interesting range of ideas, and have a lot of diversity among them. These include essays on faith, nihilism, God, Islamic cosmology, the Vedanta of Hinduism, race, determinism and choice, and a lot more besides. The range of topics is impressive, and kept me hooked right through the book. For those frustrated by the first volume's repeated flogging of Plato's "cave analogy", you will be gratified to know that it is only mentioned a couple of times, and not really discussed in any detail outside the first chapter. In general, I found that the contributors made an excellent survey of the movies, and also brought out some very interesting issues. I didn't find that I disliked any of the essays, though on some points I disagreed with them. In general, the contributions were interesting, well-written, at times humorous, and easily understood. In this follow-up volume, I think that the book defies Lou Marinoff's idea that sequels are generally bound to fail, ("Why the Sequels Failed", in this book). I found it to be in some ways more interesting than the first volume, and wider in the various aspects that it discussed. If you have read and enjoyed The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (Popular Culture and Philosophy), then I really recommend this book to you. It is another book that you don't need to worry about meaty words with, and it is accessible to everyone. In short, it is a great book.

I have read almost all the Matrix books & seen all the movies. I have also been studying this series for three yrs now. The part that has puzzled me for so long is why & how someone can love some one so much that they would die to hold on to that. In Neo & Trinitys case they had that, I was trying to understand that. I was also trying to understand if the one you loved died or "gave up on you" how would we be. Is love a pathetic imotion or what? Which is it? One day I understood when that person came back in my life. Who was always there when I needed that person. The one I am proud to say I am that persons. But his thoughtless words broke my heart, not knowing that my heart was bleeding before him. I mistakened hm for someone more like myself & not so hatful our family was never soposed to be hatful it dosn't matter any more he accomplished what he wanted to accomplish he's across the atlantic & I am here we can't go back again. I just wanted to give him a second chance to choose who he really wanted to be with before it's to late. I just want our family back a few more kids are welcome I just know he deserves more than that. WE want to go home. I loved absolutly LOVED my words are cold & flat compared to how I truly feel. Its like one third of me was taken. If you were to die in 2 hours who is the last person you would want to be beside you? I understand now how Neo probably felt after Trinity was gone. I actually mocked that kind life once said how pathetic it was give me a break etc. I take it all back. I am broken but yet it is all a part of life it was a lesson to be learned. But at such a young age perhaps my fate is leading me to somthing far greater than I can see or imagine. Like the oracle said "We can never see past the choices we don't understand." I believe that. You are still great in our eyes and will always be flawless. To: Major Steven P. Foster Your Love forever. I will always love you.

Overall, my reaction to this book is mixed. It contains 16 essays, some excellent, some decent, and some poor. In my view, this book is not as good as its predecessor, The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real, and if you have not yet purchased it, you should certainly do so before buying this book. The first book (Volume 3 in Open Court's Popular Culture and Philosophy Series) is, in my estimation, the crown jewel of the series, so the expectations for this book were high. If you enjoyed that book, you will most likely enjoy this one as well, but the reasons for my less-than-wholehearted recommendation are contained in my reviews of the following chapters: Ch. 1. The Matrix and Plato's Cave: Why the Sequels Failed, by Lou Marinoff: The essay begins by discussing how The Matrix helps philosophy instructors to introduce classical philosophical questions and ideas. He then, as the title says, discusses why the sequels failed. His overall idea is interesting, but the essay is philosophically poor. He discusses Plato and invokes certain Platonic concepts in order to make his argument, but the aspects of Plato's philosophy that he relies upon (i.e. the theory of Forms) are not taken seriously by philosophers anymore (and with very good reason). If he just wanted to use Plato in order to introduce certain ideas, he should have said so. But relying on the Platonic concepts that he invokes in order to make an argument that is supposed to be taken seriously is just bad philosophy. Ch. 4. The Matrix is the Prozac of the People, by Martin Danahay: This essay begins with Marx's famous quote, "Religion is the opium of the people." It offers a lucid introduction to Marx's views on religion and analyzes the sequels from Marx's point of view. I found this essay to be highly enjoyable philosophically thought provoking. I especially liked how the author placed Marx's oft-misinterpreted quote in context in order to illustrate its meaning. Ch. 6. Choice, Purpose, and Understanding: Neo, the Merovingian, and the Oracle, by Theodore Schick, Jr.: This essay has its good points, but it could have been much better. The author uses characters from the film in order to illustrate the three traditional philosophical approaches to the problem of free will and determinism: hard determinism, soft determinism, and libertarianism. The essay is interesting, and most of the philosophical points that are made are accurate. However, there are two main confusions that are likely to mislead readers: 1. The author does not make it clear that the free will/determinism debate is different from the free will/fatalism debate. In other words, the concepts of causal determinism and fate both pose a threat to the belief in free will, but they pose different threats. Novices often have trouble understanding this (I know this because I've taught about the free will issue in my class many times), so an essay aimed at them should seek to clarify this confus

This book provides a balanced look at the Matrix trilogy. All of the authors are clearly fans of the matrix but some are pretty critical of the sequels. How could they not be? Most of the essays though are pretty positive. Irwin's essay "The Matrix of Control" captures the underlying philosophy and attraction of the films better than anything else I've read. Actually makes sense of the long speaches by the Merovingian and the Architect. Shick's essay on the Merovingian and free will also makes a lot of sense. The section on global philosophy with essays on Hindu and Muslim philosophy are excellent. Yeah the Zizek essay is annoying and I didn't agree with some of the others, but if you liked The Matrix and Philosophy you'll defintiely like More Matrix.