The philosophy of Avatar
By Mark Vernon on Tuesday, January 19 2010, 07:59 - General - Permalink
Seen Avatar? It is outstanding and astonishing. That's the first and last thing to say about it.
As to the politics, it's clearly about the environment, though I wouldn't be cheering if I was an environmentalist. The film offers catharsis for the ruining of the rain forest. It almost certainly says to viewers, 'you were moved, you've shown remorse - and now you can carry on as before, as it's only a fantasy movie.'
I felt that the 3D was a limited success. There is this strange layering effect it induces, which looks like a variety of hyperreality rather than the real world. My guess is it'll work well for fantasies, but not for other genres, where it'll be a distraction. Also, it's a strain on the eyes.
The thing that anyone interested in philosophy is bound to contemplate is the number of different, and incompatible, philosophies of mind the film incorporates. Cartesianism abounds, in the avatar bodies that must be animated by external minds. Computer, brain-centric models do too, in the 'plug and play' firewire with which Pandora's lifeforms come equipped. There're clear moments of panpsychism, via the comments about the energy that flows through all things. And there are hints of externalism, as contrary to the computer model, Jake Sully can't just be uploaded with knowledge of how to excel as a warrior, but he must learn it by being in the world. Others you spotted?
Comments
Great post
Yes, I find the different and perhaps incompatible philosophies of minds very interesting in the movie avatar.
Unlike the Matrix with its radical conceptualist/representationalist idealism "brain in a vat" or the strong cartesian duality of Kaufmans "Being jhon Malkovich" I agree that Avatar does have a mixed model of reality perception.
Well spotted regarding the "externalism" components - action "in the world" was required to become a warrior and this cannot be "installed" or programmed as a set of representationalist memories. Recall the same thing with the language to a certain degree. Some of the language was practiced outside the Avatar - but full Avatar alien world immersion was required in the alien society - it cannot be pre-programmed into the Avatar.
Therefore "world embodiment" / "externalism" -(a direct realism and antirepresentationalism) is required for a fully functioning Avatar thereby contradicting the cartesian duality mind-body separation implied by going into the Avatar projection machine (in a similar fashion to the brain in a vat/matrix analogy).
SO we have:
1. Direct realism/Embodiement/Externalism/mind-body are a single monist continuum
and
2.Indirect realism/Internalism/representationalist dualism/cartesian mind-body separation
Perhaps this more accuratelly reflects reality rather than contradicts ?
Perhaps reality is a "third way" - involving both some aspects of indirect realism / cartesian duality (radical representationalism with all content in the mind "aloof or transcendent from the external world") and other aspect as externalist direct realism (the mind is part and parcel of the world and hard if not incoherant to seprate mind/thought/emotion/action into seperate concepts/actions ?
The film has a very strong cartesian component like Being Jhon Malkovich - eg the transfer of the human to alien body of Grace (which failed) and Jake at the end.
In the case of Grace her "spirit" memory was incorporated within the "matrix" of the trees / spirit of Aywa. Her memories could be "heard" by those in tune with the trees "conciousness" - somewhat panpsychic !
However recall that Jake felt he did not know which was the "real world" after a few weeks (neither did I with all that 3D - lol)
The interesting thing here is BOTH world are "real" - it IS A REAL AVATAR IN A REAL EXTERNAL WORLD. THis is NOT a Matrix style brain in a vat imaginary dream world.
The externalist perceptions learned by Jake are "real time in a real world" - the same world where he is also in the machine plugged into the avatar. Note the final fight seen with the jake in the machine only a few feet away from his Avatar fighting away.
Isnt this a little like real life ? We dream and can learn in our dreams new aspects of our identity, do things we cannot do in the real world (fly over neon forests) - our identities can literally be shaped and transformed through our dreams. However we also need / necessitate an embodied interaction with a real external world in such a way that our actions and behaviours literally creates our identities (as opposed to a downloaded representational memory)
Lets say mathematical realities such as "numbers" are represented as part of a platonic duality
whilst was embodied acts such as walking necessitate a real "concrete" external world "to act in" which cannot be "pre programmed" by a dream world/matrix/brain in a VAT etc ?????
So there is no contradictions - reality is multilayered with multiple views of perception