TOWARDS A BIOGRAPHY OF AGENT SMITH

Text topic: Film and Philosophy

Text author: Предраг Милидраг

The article analyzes transformations of the character of Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy against the background of Hegel’s ideas in his The Philosophy of History. The chain of events in the trilogy is understood as a progress of the consciousness of freedom and mutual recognition of humans and artificial intelligence. Agent Smith is a key figure in that process because thanks to him a) Neo becomes the One, b) humans realize that the right to live and to freedom do not imply destruction of the Matrix and the machines and c) artificial intelligence realizes that in order to achieve the balance of Matrix they have to recognize to humans the right of awakening from the Matrix into existence. Besides that, the article analyzes the role of the plexus Architect-Oracle as a creator of the plan that Neo and Smith carry out, bringing the virtual world into balance; also, a basis is shown for possible theodicy of the actions of that plexus.