I haven't really seen much regarding the core philosophies in FMA - nor any analysis lately regarding the same - save fro a few articles and videos from way back when. Personally, I love how it dives well beyond existentialism (a pet philosophy of mine) and contains flourishes of nihilism. It doesn't criticize scientism, for one, and pretty much embraces the concept of existing, giving and taking. Well, that's my take. What's your perspective?
disclaimer: i am not smart im a freshman college student who thinks he knows things and likes sounding like he knows things
i feel like FMA’s core philosophy is about hubris! i tend to look at stories on the detail and character level, but i think this applies to the core worldbuilding as well.
blind ambition with horrible consequences is essentially a running theme through the entire show, from character actions, to symbolism, to broader themes.
the inciting incident of the series is two young boys who thought all the knowledge in the world could save them from the consequences of committing alchemy’s greatest sin. despite the warnings, ed and alphonse assumed they could knowledge their way out of this and “correctly” revive their mother. they were immediately proven wrong, and ended up losing everything.
they continue on, believing, AGAIN, they can knowledge their way out of things to get al’s body back and restore ed’s limbs. they join the military to gain access to alchemical knowledge. they spend years chasing solutions and stake their beliefs on one thing: alchemy is the answer.
then, several events occur that show them the consequences of alchemy: the nina tucker situation, dr. marcoh’s experiments, the creation of the homunculi, how philosopher’s stones are created, and ultimately, the Ishvalan Civil War and Promised Day. notice a theme here? all are acts committed by people who expected they could make things go right, because they’re smart and capable enough to pull it off. all of them ended up costing human life, with the Ishvalan civil war being the most prominent.
these discoveries are what leads edward to renounce his alchemy in the end, because alchemy (our hubris allegory), was never the solution to begin with. Father, as a parallel, clung to his belief that he could fight his way out of this AND had the right to do so, and relies hard on alchemy to do everything for him. he’s the one that fails and dies.
i think the point arakawa was trying to make with all of this, and especially tying it to war and genocide, is that blind ambition and arrogance have dire consequences. war is often the result of the leaders of two different countries believing in their right to someone else’s resources, their might to crush them, and their ability to somehow know how to use those resources better. when it comes to colonialism, that then becomes a one-sided conflict and the consequences are much worse and far-reaching. arakawa herself grew up in the hokkaido prefecture, where the effects of the ainu extermination are deeply felt and she wrote from that point of view. she interviewed war veterans. so, i don’t think the themes of war and the themes of hubris are separate or a coincidence.
and, i mean, the two strongest antagonists that aren’t Father are “pride” and “wrath” so...
sidenote: this is also played pretty straight when it comes to Roy Mustang’s case as well! he caused a LOT of harm because he believed that not only were there no consequences, but that he was doing what was right. when he was sobered to the consequences of his actions, he immediately devoted himself to doing whag was right, BUT also clung to his blind ambition- that being, that he could fix everything. this is why Truth took away his eyesight. when it comes to riza, i think her pain was one of the consequences of another person’s ambition, namely her father. riza’s father believed so much in flame alchemy that he tattooed his notes on his own daughter’s back and forced her to carry his research because he believed so much that it should never be destroyed. flame alchemy ends up causing a lot of harm (and riza isn’t innocent either, i want to stress that she was almost just as complicit as roy is), and she has to physically destroy a part of herself to start to reverse the damage.
that was really long, feel free to elaborate on your take in the replies or rblogs if you want! bc i dont quite understand what you mean but you seem to really know what you’re talking about
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