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This ironic depiction of the Oracle as a programwho learns from hermistakes underscores the tension the Architect cannot reconcile between hisobjectivating perspective, relying on observation and deduction, and her ownintuitive grasp of linguistic meaning, to arrive subjectively at a solution.Inturning from his empiricist precepts to recognize intuition and self-reflexivityas subjective wellsprings of knowledge, the Architect has unwittinglyreintegrated elements of Platonic idealism into his techno-science. As aprogram who can shift to another bodily form and who only superficiallyassumes the social role of psychic or fortune telling, the subjective essence ofthe Oracle is elusive: it is more inherent in the unique qualities of her voiceand communicative capacity, than in her sensuous nature. The Architectloosens up the tensions between his natural scientific construction, and theRevolution in The Matrix 65cultural-bond, context-dependent knowledge of the Oracle, as he admits thevalidity of her claim that humans will only accept his model living space orprogram when given a choice. The Architects acceptance of the Oracle ashis feminine, social scientific counterpart is, in short, symbolic of thebeginning of revolutionary advance toward a reflexively modern worldviewin which the inner depth or qualitativedimensions of the human psyche,persons and things, gain renewed value. This wise and sublime Black womanconveys her depth and vision through a countenance that masks the extent ofher distinctive inner life, her difference. She upholds the principle of choiceas she lets her spirit shine, thus suggesting the need to reaffirm subjectivityand the classical context of democratic life in which individuals

communicated that subjectivity to a deliberating body of visible actors.