Read Final Fantasy and Philosophy: The Ultimate Walkthrough Online
Authors: Michel S. Beaulieu,William Irwin
Final Fantasy and Philosophy: The Ultimate Walkthrough
Table of Contents
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series
PART ONE - BASIC CONTROLS AND UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHARACTERS
Chapter 1 - THE SPIKY-HAIRED MERCENARY VS. THE FRENCH NARRATIVE THEORIST: FINAL
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“C’mon, Newcomer. Follow Me”: Interpreting Signs in the World of Gaia
A Malboro by Any Other Name: The Role of Identification in Interpreting Signifiers
“Didn’t Catch Your Name”: The Player as Cloud
“Cloud . . . You Just Want Friends. Isn’t That Right?” The Player as Party
“Zack . . . SOLDIER First Class. Same as Cloud”: The Player as Zack
“A New Life . . . Children Are Blessed with Spirit Energy and Are Brought into
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“I Couldn’t Stop Her. That Was My Sin”: Exploring Vincent in Dirge of Cerberus
“This Is the End?”
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Chapter 2 - KEFKA, NIETZSCHE, FOUCAULT: MADNESS AND NIHILISM IN FINAL FANTASY VI
A Kefkaesque Beginning
Kefka: The Man behind the Laugh
Foucault: A Method to His Madness
The Age of (Un)Reason
God Is Dead! Long Live Kefka!
Nietzsche: The Meaning of Morality in the World of Ruin
Neo-Kefka: Übermensch or Failed God?
Is Reason Really Madness?
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Chapter 3 - JUDGING THE ART OF VIDEO GAMES: HUME AND THE STANDARD OF TASTE
Beauty Is Not in the Eye of the Evil Eye
Could Cloud Strife Beat Superman in a Fight?
The Sea Devil’s in the Details
Brewing a Remedy: Qualities of Good Judges
Charmed by Bias
Confused by Culture and Blinded by Our Dispositions
Is Hume’s Airship Flying in Circles?
Taking Care of Bad Breath
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PART TWO - PLAYING THE GAME-BUT WHAT IF IT’S NOT A GAME?
Chapter 4 - THE LIFESTREAM, MAKO, AND GAIA
Tapping the Lifestream
AVALANCHE vs. Shinra
Dr. Cid, Meet Dr. Lovelock
Are the Bad Guys Bad but Right?
NOTES
Chapter 5 - GAIA AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS IN THE SPIRITS WITHIN
A Tale of Two Gaias
The Zeus Cannon: A Hein-ous Idea
Gaia’s Revenge and the Fate of Humanity
Who Cares?
A Cancerous Tumor Inside Gaia
NOTES
Chapter 6 - OBJECTIFICATION OF CONSCIOUS LIFE FORMS IN FINAL FANTASY
Use Me, Even in Your Fantasies . .
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Three Reasons Not to Use Life Forms . . . and Three Reasons to Use Life Forms
Kant vs. Shinra
A Utilitarian Moral Stalemate: Sacrificing Party Members
Virtue Ethics: Aristotle, Aeris, and Sephiroth
So, What Character Do You Aspire to Be?
Aeris or a Cloud?
NOTES
PART THREE - ABILITIES YOU NEVER KNEW YOU HAD
Chapter 7 - FINAL FANTASY AND THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
Hobbes vs. the Hobgoblins
John Stuart Mill Rides the Chocobo
Aristotle Conquers the Elvaan
Doing Things Your Way. Ghaa Haah Hah Hah!
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Chapter 8 - THE FOUR WARRIORS OF LIGHT SAVED THE WORLD, BUT THEY DON’T DESERVE
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If the Sage Can See It All, Are the Heroes Really Free?
What If the Warriors Met God?
If the Heroes Are Trapped, They Can’t Be Blamed . . . or Can They?
Why Harry Frankfurt Would Still Thank the Warriors
Why Are the Heroes Heroes?
Can Our Heroes Really Want to Save the World?
Can Phineas Gage Be a Hero?
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PART FOUR - SIDE QUESTS OF THE ENLIGHTENED
Chapter 9 - SHINTO AND ALIEN INFLUENCES IN FINAL FANTASY VII
Japan in Final Fantasy VII: “Watch Out! This Isn’t Just a [Video Game]!!”
Going Kami, Going Green
Tsumi as Cultural Invasion
Responses to Foreign Matter
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Chapter 10 - KUPO FOR KARL AND THE MATERIALIST CONCEPTION OF HISTORY
The Job System and Class Consciousness
Fiends and Feuerbach
“Champion of the Sewers Aspires to Noble Action”
Moogles of the World, Unite?
Final Fantasy, Interrupted
NOTES
Chapter 11 - SIN, OTHERWORLDLINESS, AND THE DOWNSIDE TO HOPE
Backstories
The Dream of Spira
Striving for the Farplane
The Value Inversion
The Maester’s Lie
The End of Yevon
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PART FIVE - OTHER WAYS TO ENJOY THE GAME SO IT NEVER ENDS
Chapter 12 - HUMAN, ALL TOO HUMAN: CLOUD’S EXISTENTIAL QUEST FOR AUTHENTICITY
From the Midgar Train to the World at Large: Thrown into Existence
Is God Dead? Nietzschean Nihilism and Mako Morality
Condemned to Be Free?
The Bad Faith of SOLDIER
Inauthenticity and the Life of the Mercenary
From SOLDIER to Savior: Cloud’s Turn to Authenticity
Cloud’s Choice and Ours
NOTES
Chapter 13 - IS THE FEAR OF STOPPING JUSTIFIED?
Stopping’s Effect on Subjective Values: Morality, Knowledge, and the Value of Life
Necron a Hero?!
A Formula to an Answer
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Chapter 14 - WHAT’S IN A NAME? CID, CLOUD, AND HOW NAMES REFER
If Names Are Arbitrary, Is Cloud? The Direct Reference Theory
Would the Real Cloud Strife Please Wave His Blade?
Cloud’s Link to Sephiroth and Kripke’s Causal-Historical Theory
Did Balamb Garden Move? Problems with Kripke’s Causal-Historical Theory
Where Do We Go from Here?
NOTES
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