Dark Souls and Philosophy: Existentialism and humanity

George Sekeres (H-03)

Hidetaka Miyazaki’s Dark Souls is quite a phenomenon in the gaming world. Amassing a cult following over the years since its release in 2011, Dark Souls has defined a genre of video games through its difficulty, atmosphere, and convoluted story telling. Through what bits and pieces you put together while playing through the game, Dark Souls manages to spin out an intriguing narrative of morality, humanity, and the philosophy of human nature, in a dark, twisted and dying world.                        

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

Many of Dark Souls’ themes on human character can be found echoed in the work of Jean-Paul Sartre; a French philosopher who lived during the twentieth century and is regarded as France’s most important philosopher of that time. Sartre was an Existentialist; concerned with the ideas of human nature in concern to individuals, as opposed to the broad spectrum of humanity, the meaning of life, and human free will. Many of these ideas are core to the                                                                                      philosophy of the world of Dark Souls.

A forlorn hero

Sartre was an atheist and stated that there was no real, divine or otherwise, predetermined “meaning of life”. Instead his theory of the universe went a little something like this: 

“There is no ultimate meaning or purpose inherent in human life; in this sense life is ‘absurd’. We are ‘forlorn’, ‘abandoned’ in the world to look after ourselves completely.”

In Sartre’s view, we as human beings have no inherent purpose, that we create our purpose through our decisions. Existentialist thought emphasizes the individual and his decisions, as does Dark Souls. The game gives you almost nothing in the way of guidance; you are thrown into the world with no sense of direction or specific objective. You are, as Sartre said, forlorn. An undead with no purpose quickly loses their humanity and becomes a hollow. A mindless shell of their former self, no longer truly alive but incapable of death. Therefore, you must decide to create your own purpose, you decide how the game is played. Sartre called human life an “unhappy consciousness”, and this is something that rings true throughout Dark Souls. Staying alive is a struggle. You are constantly met with challenging foes, other hollows, who kill you mercilessly again and again, with every death your humanity ebbing. Lose sight of your purpose as a player and you easily become frustrated, thinking it would be easier to just give up and let the darkness consume you.

A morally ambiguous hero

With an open world and few limitations, Dark Souls allows you to explore whatever corner of its world you wish. Existentialists thought that there was no true human nature, except the nature to be radically free. Sartre was no different, but he believed this freedom came with a price. He stated, “[We are] condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, [we are] responsible for everything [we do].” In many games you play the hero; a righteous being bent on defeating evil. In Dark Souls, our undead “hero’s” story is left somewhat ambiguous. There’s nothing in the game to tell you that what you are doing is inherently right or wrong. But all your decisions in the world, and with the characters you encounter, matter. Characters will aid you in battle, turn against you, or even lose their way and become hollow, but despite how the story ends it’s always due to your decisions. You are responsible for your actions in this world. This is the curse of our human freedom, even doing nothing is a choice; a choice that may send your companions to their deaths.

In Dark Souls as in Sartre’s reality, you are in control of the game. There is no meaning to life. On its own it is nothing but a painful existence fraught with peril. It’s up to you to shape the world around you through your decisions. Dark Souls is a one of a kind experience which poses a shrouded but insightful look into the depths of human morality.


Quiz questions:

1). What did Sartre say was the meaning of life?

2). What do existentialists believe to be the true human nature

3). Why did Sartre say we are "condemned to be free"?

4). How does Dark souls reflect this condemnation upon the hero character?


Discussion Questions:

1). Do you agree with Sartre that there is no predetermined purpose for humanity? If not, what do you think our purpose might be?

2). Do you believe we as humans can "go hollow" in a way? What happens when we lose our purpose in life?

3). [COMMENT] "Man is nothing at birth and throughout his life he is no more than the sum of his past commitments."


Links:
[Jean-Paul Sartre]
   Reasonandmeaning.com
   Reasonandmeaning.com
   blupete.com
Videos:
   Why Dark Souls is different
   The Undead Curse
   Anri of Astora