Final Fantasy and Philosophy: The Ultimate Walkthrough Read Online Free PDF

acquired that view and what it entails.
    After the massacre at Doma, we find Kefka at the Imperial Magitek research lab trying to coax magical power out of live Espers the Empire has captured. Learning that Magicite is actually the remains of dead Espers, he proceeds to kill them all, an act that disgusts his adoptive father, Cid, a perennial Final Fantasy favorite and the inventor of Magitek. Through a complex scheme of manipulation, Kefka convinces Emperor Gestahl and our Heroes to find and open the sealed door to the land of the Espers, whereupon he makes his final grab for power, killing the Emperor and draining all magical power from the petrified gods of magic. This results in a cataclysm that shatters the world and makes Kefka a god himself. In true arch-villain fashion, he builds a mighty tower within which he rules over all, doling out punishment at will and destroying entire towns that refuse allegiance to him. By all rights Kefka has achieved his goal—ultimate power and ultimate knowledge—and will be content to rule over all life for eternity.
    When our varied band of protagonists finally manages to organize a resistance and scale Kefka’s tower to confront him face-to-face, they find he has undergone an interesting metamorphosis. No longer garbed in jester robes or keen on snappy one-liners, he has instead taken on a winged, angelic form and his attitude is one of detached stoicism. The power and knowledge of the gods have changed him such that, to our horror, he no longer desires simply to rule over all but would rather destroy everything, creating a paradoxical “monument to non-existence.” By way of explanation, Kefka says that there is no meaning to the world, no reason that justifies its existence, so he will destroy it entirely. While ascending the tower for the final confrontation, our Heroes attempt to “argue” against Kefka and explain to him what gives their own lives meaning. Cyan lives to carry the memory of his family; Shadow has come to value friendship; Edgar wants to create a kingdom where people are free. These explanations fall on deaf ears, however, for Kefka is no longer subject to logic or reason. To be clear, though, he has not become unreasonable or illogical. Instead, Kefka’s goals have become a rational—not contrary to reason but outside the domain of reason entirely.
    Our Heroes’ mistake as they attempt to sway Kefka from his nihilistic plan is in thinking that a meaning, a goal, or a purpose for life is something one can be convinced of. Although they each have motivating desires, desires are peculiar to each individual. They may hope that Kefka shares those desires, but if he does not, then no amount of logic will get him to agree on their importance. Most of us see existence as necessary, as an imperative. Kefka understands that this is not so, that existence is really only what philosophers call a hypothetical imperative .
    A hypothetical imperative is something one should do or believe if one wishes to attain some further goal. In other words, it would simply be irrational not to follow a certain course of action if you have a particular end in mind. For example, I might say that you should unlock the secret characters Gogo and Umaro as you play through Final Fantasy VI . My reasons for this may be based on a desire for completeness or perhaps on the strengths these characters possess that make the game easier. These reasons assume, however, that you care about completing every element of the game or that you don’t want the game to be overly difficult. Hypothetically , if you desire these things, then it is logically imperative for you to unlock these characters. But if you care for neither completion nor ease, then these arguments, regardless of how well I construct them, will not convince you. Similarly our Heroes, trying to convince Kefka that existence is imperative, invoke hypothetical desires that Kefka lacks. Therefore, without a reason that justifies the