Read Online Final Fantasy and Philosophy: The Ultimate Walkthrough by William Irwin, Michel S. Beaulieu - Free Book Online
Authors: William Irwin, Michel S. Beaulieu
Ads: Link
allow ourselves the latitude to interpret what Marlene says metaphorically, we need not think of the Lifestream in either holist or organicist terms. For example, from Marlene’s description, we might understand the Lifestream like this. The Lifestream is the name given to the total, aggregate energy of the planet’s environment. This energy “circles” the planet only insofar as everything on the planet is ultimately energy. Everything on the planet is energy because we know from physics that all matter is simply one form of energy. The Lifestream may be described as “giving life” to everything because anything born on the planet simply takes up materials and energy from the planet. Shinra’s artificial extraction of energy is killing the planet, only because nonrenewable energy is being extracted, depleting the available planetary resources and causing pollution.
If we were to accept this interpretation of Marlene’s description of the Lifestream, then the Lifestream is simply, and nothing more than, the total energy in the planetary environment. By offering these claims, Marlene would be proposing either a reductionist or a mechanist conception of the Lifestream. Reductionism claims that the properties of wholes are always among the characteristics or the properties of their parts. This is to say that the whole thing has no property that is not a property of at least one of its parts. In other words, the Lifestream has no properties that aren’t properties of the planet and the things on the planet. The Lifestream is living only because it is made up of some parts that are living things. Mechanism offers the similar claim that the properties of wholes are caused by the parts that make them up. In this view, the parts of the Lifestream cause the whole Lifestream to be alive, even if none of the parts themselves are alive. 1
Marlene’s description of the Lifestream suggests that it may be one of two very different kinds of things. On the one hand, there is the holist-organicist conception of the Lifestream: the Lifestream is a unified whole that has distinct, unique properties not possessed by the rocks, the trees, dirt, and other bits that make it up. The Lifestream as a whole has properties not possessed by any of its parts. On the other hand, there is the reductionist-mechanist conception of the Lifestream, in which the Lifestream is nothing more than an assembly of the rocks, the trees, dirt, and other bits that make it up. All the properties of the Lifestream are simply properties of the stuff that makes up the Lifestream; the Lifestream has no additional special or unique properties of its own.
Deciding between these two conceptions of the Lifestream may seem inconsequential, but underlying the decision is a significant choice between two different and incompatible ways of thinking about the natural world. The conflict between AVALANCHE and Shinra is in part a conflict between these two incompatible views. On the one hand, there is the holist conception of the Lifestream held by the members of AVALANCHE. Tifa Lockheart, Barret Wallace, and the other members of AVALANCHE conceive of the Lifestream as a living whole from which all of the living parts of the world derive their life. On the other hand, there is the mechanist conception of the Lifestream held by the employees of the Shinra Corporation, notably Professor Hojo and Scarlet. Much of the work of Shinra involves taking the Mako extracted from the Lifestream and using it as a simple, interchangeable part for various experiments and projects. Professor Hojo experiments with combining Mako with Jenova cells, while Scarlet oversees the creation of Mako weapons. The incompatibility of holist and mechanist conceptions of the Lifestream ultimately brings AVALANCHE into violent conflict with Shinra.
Dr. Cid, Meet Dr. Lovelock
Although the movie The Spirits Within has only a family resemblance with the game Final Fantasy VII, it also made use of the
If we were to accept this interpretation of Marlene’s description of the Lifestream, then the Lifestream is simply, and nothing more than, the total energy in the planetary environment. By offering these claims, Marlene would be proposing either a reductionist or a mechanist conception of the Lifestream. Reductionism claims that the properties of wholes are always among the characteristics or the properties of their parts. This is to say that the whole thing has no property that is not a property of at least one of its parts. In other words, the Lifestream has no properties that aren’t properties of the planet and the things on the planet. The Lifestream is living only because it is made up of some parts that are living things. Mechanism offers the similar claim that the properties of wholes are caused by the parts that make them up. In this view, the parts of the Lifestream cause the whole Lifestream to be alive, even if none of the parts themselves are alive. 1
Marlene’s description of the Lifestream suggests that it may be one of two very different kinds of things. On the one hand, there is the holist-organicist conception of the Lifestream: the Lifestream is a unified whole that has distinct, unique properties not possessed by the rocks, the trees, dirt, and other bits that make it up. The Lifestream as a whole has properties not possessed by any of its parts. On the other hand, there is the reductionist-mechanist conception of the Lifestream, in which the Lifestream is nothing more than an assembly of the rocks, the trees, dirt, and other bits that make it up. All the properties of the Lifestream are simply properties of the stuff that makes up the Lifestream; the Lifestream has no additional special or unique properties of its own.
Deciding between these two conceptions of the Lifestream may seem inconsequential, but underlying the decision is a significant choice between two different and incompatible ways of thinking about the natural world. The conflict between AVALANCHE and Shinra is in part a conflict between these two incompatible views. On the one hand, there is the holist conception of the Lifestream held by the members of AVALANCHE. Tifa Lockheart, Barret Wallace, and the other members of AVALANCHE conceive of the Lifestream as a living whole from which all of the living parts of the world derive their life. On the other hand, there is the mechanist conception of the Lifestream held by the employees of the Shinra Corporation, notably Professor Hojo and Scarlet. Much of the work of Shinra involves taking the Mako extracted from the Lifestream and using it as a simple, interchangeable part for various experiments and projects. Professor Hojo experiments with combining Mako with Jenova cells, while Scarlet oversees the creation of Mako weapons. The incompatibility of holist and mechanist conceptions of the Lifestream ultimately brings AVALANCHE into violent conflict with Shinra.
Dr. Cid, Meet Dr. Lovelock
Although the movie The Spirits Within has only a family resemblance with the game Final Fantasy VII, it also made use of the
Similar Books
