All reading materials: Time and Change 1. TimeChange_ReadMe (Requirements of Assignment) 2. Everyone Reads 1) Dystopian Video Games and Human Nature _ Scholarly Gamers 2) Engaging Apolitical Adolescen

JOHN ROBERTSON SUBSCRIPTIONS SIGN IN 5/3/2018 Why Bioshock still has, and will always have, something to say | Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/08/bioshock-objectivism-philosophy-analysis/ 2/6It's a mighty ambitious tone too. Objectivism—a contr oversial political philosophy cr eated by the Russian-American philosopher Ayn Rand in the mid-20th century—is what stands between Bioshock having a hok ey sci-fi plot, and one that gives it worth well be yond its now-waning technical offerings.

What is objectivism? In short, it 's the idea that society flourishes if each of its members focuses on their o wn self-inter ests over the inter ests of others, and without heavy-handed intervention fr om the state. In doing so, the theory runs that each person creates a personal situation where they feel accomplished and happ y. Ultimately , society rules itself, "without Gods or Kings." Objectivism in Bioshock is seemingly pr esented as a failure. When you arrive in Raptur e, the city has already fallen into chaos and decay , the vast majority of its surviving inhabitants having been consumed b y the gene-altering "plasmids" that instil both superpo wers and insanity on its users. But the r eal message of the game goes deeper than this simple warning. Raptur e's founder and ruler, Andr ew Ryan, is Bioshock 's less-than- subtle embodiment of Ayn Rand. Both Rand and Ryan gr ew up in the So viet Union under strict communist governments, e xperiencing the kind of po verty and injustice that sometimes results from a system wher e individual liberty is side-lined in favour of helping the whole.

In Bioshock , Ryan moves to the United States to escape communism, and in doing so uses his intelligence and foresight to become a wealthy businessman in the compar atively fr ee West. His American Dr eam doesn't last long, though; in the face of the economic depression caused b y the Wall Street Cr ash of 1929, the US government tak es more contr ol over its financial systems in or der to prevent the same economic catastr ophe fr om happening again. Ryan 's days of being able to act as pleases in his pursuit of his o wn self-interests are over. Having seen the pain that he belie ves communism and an active state can cause, Ryan concocts a plan to build the ultimate objectivist par adise, an underwater city free from the stranglehold of state influence, wher e the best and brightest are free to do as the y see fit.

For a while, as depicted b y the backstory that the player unco vers throughout the game, Raptur e is the thriving, progressive place that Ryan dr eamt of. Scientists are free fr om ethical complaints, while capitalists ar e unbound fr om overwhelming taxation and bur eaucracy. Of course, it all goes wr ong.

But it isn't the idea of working to wards self-inter ests that brings Raptur e down, nor is Bioshock necessarily the scathing critique of objectivism as which it is so often portr ayed. Instead, as is often the case, what destroys Raptur e is succinctly summed up b y that most famous of sayings: po wer corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Ultimately, it is Andrew Ryan and his abandonment Enlar ge / Ayn Rand' s novel Atlas Shrugged is a classic slice of Objectivism. 5/3/2018 Why Bioshock still has, and will always have, something to say | Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/08/bioshock-objectivism-philosophy-analysis/ 3/6FURTHER READING The failure of BioShock Infinite : Writing games like movies of objectivism that brings Raptur e to its knees. Ryan is so fearful that Raptur e is going to be influenced by the outside world that he bans any inter action with it, and becomes suspicious to the point of madness. The city must be self-sustaining, he thinks, just as each person within must work to sustain themselves.

The very idea of placing limits on what can and can 't be thought, or what can and can't be bought and sold, stands in conflict with two objectivist principles: that the go vernment shouldn't have too much influence over its citizens, and that people should be able to act in whiche ver way best serves their own inter ests. If importing something not cr eated in Rapture, or interacting with a person outside of the city, is the way in which an individual can mak e best use of their skills, then objectivist theory runs that the government shouldn 't be allowed to pr event that fr om happening.

Ryan's abuse of po wer—at least in the conte xt of objectivism—results in Rapture's population becoming disillusioned and coming to belie ve that his goals are more aligned with r etaining power than they are about pr oviding the truly fr ee society they've all mo ved there to create. It 's her e that Frank Fontaine, ar ch enemy of Andr ew Ryan, comes into play . This master criminal is able to tak e advantage of people's desir e for for eign imports b y setting up a lucr ative black market, eventually becoming so rich and influential that—in the guise of Atlas, an e xplicit reference to Ayn Rand' s influential novel Atlas Shrugged —Fontaine engages Ryan in the civil war that brings do wn Rapture. Again, Bioshock should be r ead not so much as an attack on the idea of objectivism as as an attack on the way that the po wer and control requir ed to build something lik e Rapture invariably corrupts the individual that wields it. If Ryan had been pr epared to Enlar ge / Bioshock 's Raptur e is an objectivist par adise, an underwater city fr ee from the str anglehold of the state. 5/3/2018 Why Bioshock still has, and will always have, something to say | Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/08/bioshock-objectivism-philosophy-analysis/ 4/6relinquish that po wer and allow objectivist ideas to truly flourish, then it 's possible Raptur e could have continued unhinder ed. If there's no po wer to fight against, then Fontaine would have had nothing to use as a galvanising for ce to cause Rapture's population to rise up. Objectivism made Ryan the man he was, and it made Raptur e the incredible place that it was. It was the abandonment of objectivism that destr oyed both, and turned Ryan into the type of king that he had so desper ately despised in his former life.

It's inter esting to note that one of the e vents in Ryan's backstory that triggers him to lose belief in America is the country 's use of atomic weaponry against Japan. T o Ryan, the atomic bomb and the idea that science could be harnessed for destruction to serve the many (or the " parasites," as he calls them), is the ultimate corruption of his ideals. And yet it 's Ryan who seeks to destr oy Fontaine as soon as he can 't be controlled.

Ryan seems to have belie ved that he was working under the principles of objectivism b y retaining po wer o ver Raptur e as a means to serve his self-inter ests. Is that really the case? Does clutching to power inher ently serve your inter ests when the refusal to give up po wer is what causes your demise?

Bioshock questions the ability of those seeking po wer to serve their own interests, let alone the interests of those the y have power over. Objectivism states that you should work to wards personal happiness first, and the happiness of others second. But If you' re in a position of po wer, in which you are e xpected to pr ovide a fr amework (Raptur e) for others to work to wards personal happiness, ho w can you do that if you've not found happiness yourself?

Enlarge / A fan-made sculptur e of Bioshock's Andrew Ryan. Angela Bermude z / Deviant Art 5/3/2018 Why Bioshock still has, and will always have, something to say | Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/08/bioshock-objectivism-philosophy-analysis/ 5/6Blizzard answers unsolved mysteries of the Hearthstone univ erse Blizzard's Ben Br ode, game dir ector on Hearthstone, sheds some light on the unsolved mysteries of the Hearthstone universe. Any car d combos the Hearthstone designers never intended? How does Blizzard decide which char acters to take from W orld of Warcraft? What will happen to the classic set as it continues to lose car ds every year? Blizzar d answers all these questions, and mor e! LATEST ARS VIDEO > JOHN ROBERTSON Based out of London, England, John is a fr eelance writer specialising in video games and popular cultur e.

When not locked in front of a computer he 's glued to the vie wfinder of his camer a. Canon only.

TWITTER @robertson_john READER COMMENTS SHARE THIS STORY ← PREV IOUS ST ORY NEXT ST ORY → Power ed b y If we abandon r ationality and lose sight of our wider goals then we 'r e always in danger, as Ryan found out, of destr oying that society into which so much har d work has already been ploughed and so much success alr eady been harvested. As a piece of liter ature depicting this most self-destructive trait of mankind, Bioshock continues to stand as a r are e xample of a game worth playing today and tomorr ow .

BioShock: The Collection, a r emastered collection of BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite, is set for release September 13 in the US and September 16 in the UK for PlayStation 4, Windo ws, and Xbox One.

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