What is Truth? - Philosophy in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood...Perhaps one of the most popular and well received anime out today. One of the things that surely factors into the praise FMA gets would be it's incredibly intellectual writing. Fullmetal Alchemist has some striking similarities to the work of Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher. Here to talk about this week is Kato's very own, Zero.In this episode, Zero returns to answer the mystery: What is Truth?

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Next week, Zero is back again for another video on Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherood, exploring the identity of Alphonse Elric.
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[cliffordeberhardt]

She intended for parallels just like she meant to have that gun in that picture. 😂😂😂

[CaptainRex-Managed_Democracy]

After watching this video, I rewatched the scene where Father/Dwarf-in-the-Flask Homunculus dies and meets Truth, and I noticed a couple of things that I thought were interesting (and some of them were also brought up by other people). The scene starts out with Dwarf wondering at why he was rejected by God, and Truth responds that it was because he didn't believe in himself, that he stole all his power from others, and that despite literally being born of a human, he viewed them as being lesser beings and instead stubbornly clung to his idea of God. Truth then directly states that in all the Dwarf's years of wandering upon the earth (which I might add was for a far longer period of time than any mortal ever accomplished, Alchemist or otherwise), the Dwarf-in-the-Flask never once grew personally. Apparently in the original manga, Truth also said something like "Stealing the power of God doesn't make you God, it just makes you a cunning thief". Truth even goes so far as to mock the Dwarf for thinking that he could surpass humans through something so simple and mundane as severing himself from his seven desires.

So far, all Truth has done in this conversation is do exactly what he has always done: teach. Truth tries to teach the Dwarf that he didn't earn his power. He tries to teach the Dwarf that he was hypocritical to think that he was greater than humans, when in fact his origins couldn't be much more human. He tries to teach the Dwarf that simply stealing the power of God isn't nearly enough to make him anything more than what he has been throughout his life: a thief. Truth even makes a passing reference to the Dwarf's attempt to cut off his seven deadly sins, which in fact only served to impede his ability to learn and grow, for what better way is there to learn than to make mistakes and suffer their consequences (and few people personalize that concept better than the Elric brothers). Personally, I think that the only reason that Truth didn't expand on that last point is because by this point in the Dwarf's life, it should have been *beyond* blindingly obvious. After all, making mistakes and learning from them is quite literally one of most fundamental cornerstones of science, Alchemy, and the general pursuit of knowledge, which the Dwarf claims to have been seeking this entire time. Or maybe Truth did briefly try to point this out, since he made the mocking remark right after he made the observation that the Dwarf never grew personally.

The Dwarf-in-the-Flask then states that he was just trying to become the perfect being, that he wanted to know everything in the world, and he angrily asks what was wrong with wanting that. And Truth doesn't respond, which I think has to do with two things: 1., there isn't necessarily anything wrong with wanting that, it was just the methods through which the Dwarf tried to accomplish this. And 2., Sometimes, people hit upon their greatest personal discoveries in the midst of ramblings that start exactly the same way as the Dwarf's conversation: asking questions. However, the Dwarf doesn't continue his line of questioning. Instead, in an act that highlights his utter lack of personal growth, the Dwarf has the audacity to ask who Truth thinks he is: "What are you? What is your name? Who do you think you are?". And it is at this exact moment that one of the most subtly dramatic things in the entire series happens:

Truth stops smiling.

You see, all throughout this entire show (or at least, so far as I can remember), Truth never once stops smiling. Because every time a mortal being, Human or Homunculus or otherwise, passes through his realm, Truth takes pleasure in trying to teach them, in trying to directly or indirectly impart to them one or more of the greatest lessons that life on earth could possibly have to offer them. And it's all so that they can grow to be the greatest version of themselves. Yet, in what was most likely one of, if not the single greatest campaign of enlightenment that Truth has ever embarked on in his own immortal "life"(?), he stops smiling. Because the Dwarf-in-the-Flask has not learned even a single damn thing in all his long years upon the earth. And nowhere is this made more clear than by looking at the only physical feature in the landscape during this scene: the Dwarf's own doorway of Truth. Remember, the Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric, whose own arc of personal character development would eventually lead him to hit upon the very lesson of humility that Truth was trying to teach him, has a doorway of Truth that is decorated with what resembles the Great Tree of Life. The Dwarf's doorway, however, is completely and utterly blank. Not a single character or letter has ever been inscribed upon it. Because the Dwarf has learned absolutely nothing, and never will. Instead, all that he has ever done is steal everything that he has, grow ever more and more in his own arrogance, and in the moment of his greatest boastfulness, presented his own idea of who he believed Truth/God to be as the absolute truth. Which, ironically, was the idea that Truth punished boastfulness in people. And yet, the Dwarf doesn't even recognize the very being that he quite literally only moments earlier tried to become himself. What's more is this should have been a moment of humility of the greatest degree for the Dwarf, as he literally obtained the power of God, only to immediately be brought down low and even outright killed by the very humans who he saw as being nothing more than a resource. And still the Dwarf does not learn.

Truth stops smiling, because he has failed. And now he must exact the toll for the Dwarf's sins, without granting the satisfaction of enlightenment. And some people have theorized that the punishment that Truth bestows on the Dwarf to grant him proper despair for his sins is to take him behind the doorway, and grant him the infinite knowledge that he sought at the permanent cost of the Dwarf's first and foremost greatest desire, reflected in his very pursuit for power and knowledge: his personal freedom.

And I think that this entire thing contributed to the apparently absolute and genuine joy that Truth displays in the following interaction with Edward. Because where Truth failed with the Dwarf-in-the-Flask Homunculus who sought to be the perfect being, he succeeded with Edward Elric who was only ever simply Human.

P.S. Sorry that this turned out to be so long, I didn't mean for that to happen lol

[krinaldoma]

sometime in the future, we realize that Plato actually watched Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and his philosophy was an interpretation of the anime

[eliasali]

I finished the anime 15 mins ago.. What a masterpiece..

[Iottary]

Socrates and Plato being like Naruto and Jiraiya was a comparison I didn't know I needed.

[barryallen]

"A human should never aspire to be God, but aspire to be himself."

Okay, that is one of the wisest things I have heard in my entire lifetime. Wow.

[demonzero]

Here's the thing about the Philosopher's stone in Fullmetal Alchemist and Brotherhood. It's not actually breaking the laws of equivalent exchange at all. In truth, the stone is exchanging the energy of the souls trapped within it in place of matter to perform transmutation. This is why the powers of a philosopher's Stone can run out as seen by the various Humunculous deaths. The stone is using up the souls within it to regenerate them, and once it's run dry they can no longer regenerate and die. It's also seen early on in the series with That Priest's stone. it eventually runs out of souls and breaks.

So in truth, saying that is ignores the concept of equivalent exchange is incorrect. nothing is exempt from that law within the FMA universe. Even the stone must abide by it, it just offers something else in place of matter in the exchange, something that's literally worth hundreds of tons of matter. Just an interesting point.

[Philson]

I was sent here after performing human transmutation.

[bazil]

Everyone gangsta till truth stops smiling

[Xuejinyuan]

"A human should not aspire to be god but aspire to be himself." Holy shit that gave me chills. I had to replay that.

[AgglomeratiProduzioni]

Quoting the incipit of the opening:
_«Alchemy: the science of understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing matter. However, it is not an all-powerful art. It is impossible to create something out of nothing. If one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be given. This is the law of equivalent exchange; the basis of all alchemy. In accordance to this law, there is a taboo among alchemists. Human transmutation is strictly forbidden. For what could equal the value of a human soul?»_
All of alchemy is based on the principle of equivalent exchange: you can't sacrifice a flower and obtain a house. Notice how the narrator doesn't say that alchemy forbids human transmutation, only that alchemists consider it to be taboo.
Human transmutation has always been possible, perfectly in accordance with the laws that regulate any other transmutation. All previous alchemists in history (those fools) believed it to be impossible just because they didn't manage to obtain it, but the truth is: they were trying to obtain a house from a flower. For all that time, those who wanted to obtain human transmutation tried to sacrifice materials of equivalent value, both under physical and spiritual aspect, but they never succeeded simply because it wasn't an equivalent exchange. They kept underestimating the value of what they wanted to obtain or overestimating the value of what they were giving, and thus failed.
_«What could equal the value of a human soul?»_ the narrator asks. The question was there, always hidden in plain sight, at the beginning of each episode, and only Ed managed to answer to such a deep matter. The Door of Truth is the only thing we possess whose value is comparable to the one of a human life, so to obtain one you need to sacrifice the other.
_«That is the correct answer, alchemist.»_
Edward Elric understood what could equal the value of a human soul and, an instant before sacrificing his alchemic powers forever, became the greatest alchemist in history when he successfully obtained human transmutation.
Father has tried for 800 years to obtain Knowledge, to discover the Truth, but misunderstood it for power and made evil things to achieve it.
All Edward wanted was to obtain happiness and so Truth was revealed to him, for greater than God is the man who smiles at his last transmutation.

[OmegaHulk]

Truth: Ever heard of Plato? Aristotle? Socrates?
Ed: Yes?
Truth: Morons.

[noanononoa]

Okay so in the gate of truth there are a lot of Hebrew words, here is the translation for most of them (I'm lazy):
Hochma- wisdom
Yehova - the name of god which is forbidden of reading out loud
Adonai - my god, my lord
Elohim - god
El - a god
Gevora - heroic
Gibor - hero
Keter- corona, crown
Bina - Knowledge, intelligence
Chesed - Clemency (mercy) goodness branch.
Tiferet - Grace beauty branch
Sabaoch - complexity/entanglement
Netzach - eternity
Yesod - base, basis, element
Malchut - royalty

[paolee]

Full Metal Alchemist is one of the best anime ever to come out. It deals with life, death, love, hate, etc, and, that's what makes it so good.

[gaspr]

The Truth's lesson is like the Tower of Babel. When people try to become gods they fail miserably.

[marche]

Another clue pointing to Alchemy being tied to truth and as a result God is that Scar at one point mentions that the way Ed activates his Alchemy (clapping his hands together) resembles the gesture for praying, something one does when requesting something from God. This is also something that only alchemists who have witnessed truth can do.

[SRosenberg]

I always felt that Truth's ultimate test, which Edward passed and the Homunculus failed, is the ability to understand that relationships with others are everything, and personal power is meaningless. Edward gave up the thing that made him powerful and gave him position over others because, as he said "Who needs Alchemy, when I've got them?" thinking of all the people in his life who were important to him.

The Dwarf in the Flask, however, continually scoffed at the idea of community and family, while still being unable to understand why he wanted them so badly. Instead of embracing that he tried to fill the void inside him with "the power of God", and completely missed the point of being alive, which is the bonds we form with other people. At least according to the message of the series, as I've always understood it.

[enb]

I watched the entire show because of you, and I cried. It was so good. The best story I've ever experienced.

[gavinknightjackson]

Easily the greatest anime ever made . Seriously it's a masterpiece.

[emiliorodriguez]

Great video. I also think that when various characters tried human transmutation and failed because, as you said, they underestimate the value of a human life/soul or overrate the value of what they’re offering as a sacrifice, the show also wants to give the message that blindly following one method of knowledge will never be enough. At the beginning, Edward thinks alchemy can do anything and he blindly believes in it, the same way those people from that country believed blindly in their religious leader and his “miracles”. That’s why he fails human transmutation: believing blindly in alchemy lead to him underestimating him the value of a human soul. The same goes for father at the end of the show. You said Truth shows him some humility and tells him he hasn’t evolved from day 1. The homunculus always believed in alchemy blindly and severely underestimated human life. Edward and Al, on the other hand, evolve as the show progresses and begin to question alchemy, and that’s what makes them different: they don’t stick to either faith or science (alchemy). And in the end, Edward understands why alchemy isn’t everything just like you said. And Winry herself shows Edward that Alchemy isn’t everything, when she tells him that it’s not necessary for each of them to give half their lives to one another, because she will give him her entire life, thus indicating that the law of equivalent exchange and alchemy doesn’t dictate this world, and that you shouldn’t stick to it to achieve absolute knowledge and reach to the realm of ideas that Platon talked about. To reach that level and know truth, you must lear something from all kinds of knowledge.
Another aspect I’ve noticed (though it might be me making things up) is that Truth doesn’t have eyes as opposed to whoever comes and sees truth. I think that means that truth belongs to the world of ideas, not to the world of appearences, where you perceive things thanks to your senses (represented by eyes).