Game of Thrones and Philosophy

by Jacoby, Henry, Irwin, William

  A Man with Great Ambition and No Morals, I Wouldn’t Bet against Him (“Fire and Blood”)

  Why be moral? This question dates back to Plato’s (428–348 BCE) Republic, in which the characters Socrates and Glaucon discuss the nature of justice.3 Playing devil’s advocate, Glaucon makes the case that we behave justly (or morally) only because we’re afraid of getting caught and punished. Socrates (speaking for Plato) disagrees and suggests that the just man is always better off than the unjust man. As a counterexample to Socrates’ claim that the just man is always better off, Glaucon recounts the myth of the ring of Gyges.4

  In Glaucon’s story, Gyges, a simple shepherd, discovers a magic ring that turns whoever wears it invisible. Once learning of the ring’s magical properties, Gyges realizes he can fulfill his wildest ambitions. He uses the ring to fulfill his lust for power. He seduces the queen, kills the king, and seizes the throne for himself. Gyges has the ability to satisfy his every desire, and so he does.

  Glaucon then asks Socrates to consider a scenario in which there are two magic rings, one given to a just man and the other given to an unjust man. Glaucon proposes that both the men will behave poorly. Not even the just man could resist the temptation to fulfill his every desire. After all, why should he resist? With the ring of Gyges, the just man has no reason to fear reprisal. His immoral acts will go unseen. With this kind of power, wouldn’t it be rational for him simply to do what is in his best interest, to do whatever he feels like? Wouldn’t he be kind of silly not to take advantage of the opportunity? Glaucon maintains that not only would most people use the ring, but that it would be irrational not to use the ring.

  If Glaucon is right that only a fool would act morally in the absence of sanction, perhaps Joffrey is on to something. The ring-of-Gyges scenario is very similar to the way in which Joffrey conceives of the privilege of sitting on the Iron Throne. As king, Joffrey believes he will be immune from sanction. After all, justice in Westeros is the “king’s justice.” What the king says and does goes. If someone doesn’t like it or, even worse, questions his behavior, then Joffrey, as king, can simply dish out one of his many ingenious punishments, such as when he has a traveling minstrel’s tongue cut out for singing a song that mocks the death of Robert Baratheon and not so subtly accuses the Lannisters of killing the king. From Joffrey’s perspective, the privilege of sitting on the Iron Throne is just as good as having your own magic ring.

  Being king might come with nearly limitless power, but unfortunately for Joffrey, not even a king can hide his actions from his subjects. The ring of Gyges is so enticing precisely because its wearer gets to behave immorally without gaining the bad reputation that Joffrey and other despicable people earn for themselves. And as much as Joffrey would like to believe he can do whatever he wants, people remember tyrants with hatred and loathing. A generation before Joffrey, the people of Westeros rose up against the mad king Aerys Targaryen. This rebellion eventually led to Aerys’s murder at the hand of Jaime Lannister. As season one of Game of Thrones comes to an end, Joffrey is fast following in Aerys’s footsteps.5

  With each act of cruelty, with each harm inflicted for selfish gain, Joffrey turns a potentially loyal ally into a lifelong enemy. Whereas Gyges gets to enjoy the benefits of appearing to be a good person, Joffrey is not so lucky. Before his rise to power, Joffrey’s behavior was offensive enough to warrant a good beating from his uncle. Did you cheer the first time you watched Tyrion Lannister slap his nephew? I know I did. And being crowned king did nothing to improve Joffrey’s behavior. A few short days after Joffrey takes the throne, Sansa, Joffrey’s loving bride-to-be, is contemplating pushing him off a bridge. Joffrey’s misdeeds all but guarantee that his time on the Iron Throne will come to a quick and bloody end.

  Joffrey has clearly misunderstood what sitting on the Iron Throne means. But is Joffrey’s mistake that he acts immorally? Or is it something else? Perhaps believing that he’s invincible?

  Joffrey believes that as king he can do whatever he wants and that there will be no negative consequences. This is hopelessly naïve. His fatal mistake is not so much that he behaves immorally, but rather that he incorrectly believes that he is invincible. After all, immoral behavior has given him a bad reputation and made many enemies. He’d be wise to start behaving better.

  Members of Joffrey’s court, such as Lord Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish, are better at concealing their misdeeds. And, like Gyges, Cersei and Jaime Lannister are capable of keeping their moral transgressions secret, even if it means pushing a child or two out a window. Maybe the real take-home lesson is that Joffrey just needs to be more careful about who sees him acting immorally.

  The Truth Will Be What You Make It (“Lord Snow”)

  Cersei and Jaime Lannister are wise enough to keep their moral lapses secret. They act as if they’re morally respectable when they’re with other people, and they keep their love affair and political maneuvering in the shadows.

  In a pivotal scene, Cersei advises Joffrey that “the occasional kindness will spare you all sorts of trouble down the road.” (“Lord Snow”). Cersei is trying to teach her son the importance of keeping up the appearance of being a good person by acting as if he’s a just ruler and cultivating the reputation of a moral person. Her advice is that it is fine to do whatever you want in secret, but to outwardly act a villain is to make quick enemies and set yourself up for a huge fall.

  Cersei, of course, doesn’t have a magic ring like Gyges. She has to resort to political doublespeak, her lover pushing children out windows, and other Machiavellian strategies for concealing her true motives. But assuming she’s successful at maintaining the appearance of being a noble and just queen, does she have any reason to be moral in her private life? Given that Cersei’s done her part to make sure she never has to face sanction, does she have any reason to be moral? Is fear of retribution the only real reason to be moral?

  You’ve a Long Way to Travel and In Bad Company (“Fire and Blood”)

  Perhaps Cersei and Joffrey should be moral because of the social contract we’re all part of as members of communities. It’s clearly in both their best interests to live in a society where people behave morally, where they respect the rights and interests of others. After all, if Cersei knew that everyone else at King’s Landing was guaranteed to behave morally, provided she also behaved well, then she would have far less motivation to plot and scheme. Likewise, if the only way that Joffrey could ensure that his subjects would not try to usurp his throne was if he were a just and noble ruler, then he would also have a strong reason to behave morally.

  The social contract theorist Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) would agree. Hobbes worried about the danger of humans competing with one another to satisfy their own goals. He recognized that in a world without legal, moral, and social constraints on what we can and cannot do, there is nothing stopping us from deadly conflict. It’s a grim reality that humans pursing their own goals and interests will inevitably come into direct conflict with one another. And it’s an obvious truth that even the weakest of us can pose a threat to the strongest. Hobbes was well aware that an imp can always hire a sellsword, a queen can always resort to treachery or poison, and even a strong warrior like Drogo can be taken down by a mere flesh wound. When we all pursue our own goals and desires without the constraints of morality and society, we compete. And when we compete, we end up killing each other.

  This fear of mutual destruction gives us a powerful motivation to find a way of ensuring that we all are on our best behavior. Rationally, we ought to be willing to do just about anything to ensure an environment without constant deadly competition. And one way to do this is to agree to live by a set of rules. If I agree to be a moral and just person provided you agree to be a moral and just person, and you agree to the same, we both have assurance that we’re able to cooperate and live in peace. The reason that Joffrey and Cersei have to be moral, then, is to ensure the preservation of the social contract, to ensure that everyone else behave
s morally as well.

  At first glance, this seems to be a powerful answer to the “Why be moral?” question. It gives even the most warped and psychopathic person a compelling reason to be on her best behavior. If you step out of line and indulge in immoral acts, you’re breaking the contract with your fellow citizens. And if you don’t play by the rules, then they have no reason to either. Once you can no longer rely on your neighbors to behave morally, you’re jumping at every shadow, expecting a knife in the back.

  The men of the Night’s Watch embrace a philosophy very much in the spirit of Hobbes’s reason to be moral. The Night’s Watch is a sort of prison colony made up of murderers, rapists, thieves, and those with nowhere else to go. Most end up joining the Night’s Watch reluctantly. They’ve been given a choice between “taking the black”—pledging their lives to defend Westeros from the unspeakable horrors beyond the wall—or death. Clearly, when you’re living among thieves and murderers, it’s vitally important to have some assurance that your neighbor won’t slit your throat while you sleep. The Night’s Watch pulls this off by making sure its members understand that if they step out of line, they’ll be killed.

  But King’s Landing is a place very different from the Wall, and Joffrey’s court is far less honorable than the band of vagabonds that make up the watch. Even if Joffrey and Cersei were to agree with Hobbes that the desire for a stable, moral society gives us some motivation to behave well, that obligation lasts only as long as others keep up their end of the contract. And you don’t need to be Eddard Stark to know that there is no contract in Joffrey’s court. Behaving morally is not a good survival strategy at King’s Landing.

  King’s Landing is more akin to the Dothraki civilization than to the honorable sort of community that the men of the Night’s Watch inhabit. Behaving “morally” in both environments is viewed as a kind of weakness. Among the Dothraki, only the strongest survive. Drogo is Khal, the leader of his people, not because he is a pillar of virtue but because he is a ruthless, bloody killer who’s willing to rip the throats out of his subjects if they challenge his authority or get in his way. Likewise, Littlefinger and Varys, two key players in the politics of King’s Landing, have survived so long because both men are ruthless killers willing to squash any opponent. True, they use subtler, more indirect methods than pouring molten gold over the heads of those who annoy them, but the end result is the same. At King’s Landing and in the Dothraki wilderness, you play for keeps. So King’s Landing is not really the kind of environment that lends itself to respecting a social contract.

  Even if King’s Landing was a more morally respectable community, Joffrey wouldn’t necessarily have a reason to behave morally. If you think about it, it’s not really in Joffrey’s interest to behave morally. What is really in Joffrey’s interest is for everyone else to respect the rights and interests of others, and for them to think that Joffrey is behaving well.

  If everyone else bought into the social contract theory, Joffrey would be at a distinct advantage. The citizens of his kingdom would be easy prey. Ned and Sansa were blindsided by his mother precisely because they thought Cersei would play by the rules. If Joffrey were to take his mother’s advice and practice a little discretion, he could free-ride on the good behavior of his citizens and indulge his wildest immoral desires in private.

  The social contract solution to the “Why be moral?” question doesn’t really give Joffrey a compelling reason to behave morally. It might give a reason for why, in general, groups of people should behave morally, but that’s not the sort of reason that would motivate an immoralist like Joffrey. Joffrey can grant that it’s in his interest for everyone else to behave well, but what we really need is a reason why he also ought to behave well.

  Our Way Is the Old Way (“Winter Is Coming”)

  According to Plato, immoralists like Joffrey are incapable of genuine happiness because happiness is about more than merely satisfying your desires and getting whatever you want. It has to do with your inner life, the state of your soul. Joffrey should be a moral and just king, then, because he’s missing out on happiness by refusing to embrace morality.

  You might think there’s some sleight of hand going on here. Sure, Joffrey looks like he’s missing out on some good things in life, but is that because he’s an immoral jerk? Joffrey’s parents, Cersei and Jaime, both have fairly questionable motives as well (at least during the first season of Game of Thrones), but they both look like they’ve found some happiness with each other. They might push the occasional child out a window, or engage in the occasional incestuous romp, but are their souls and lives really a chaotic, disorganized mess because of these acts?

  Joffrey and his family look like they have a lot of the good things in life, and a lot of those good things were surely gained through immoral actions. The Lannisters are an extremely wealthy family, and their accumulated wealth and power allow them to buy all sorts of pleasures. Whether it’s lavish meals, easy access to prostitutes, or extravagant celebrations, the Lannisters look like they have a pretty comfortable life compared to many of those who live in the Seven Kingdoms. Is it really true, then, that immoral persons always miss out on happiness?

  Perhaps Cersei and Joffrey have pleasurable lives, but this is different from genuine happiness. Plato has in mind a deeper kind of happiness. An immoral person, such as Joffrey, is an unhappy person, even if he gets what he wants and satisfies his desires. His soul is disordered, and his inner life is in chaos. His life is a small, selfish one. He is concerned only with himself and lacks the ability to connect in any meaningful way with other human beings. After all, in his view others are good only as a means toward satisfying his desires. Without any concern for morality, Joffrey lacks, or at least fails to display, the basic human emotions such as compassion, love, and concern that allow for real friendships and relationships. Joffrey is alone. If Plato is correct, Joffrey’s immoral life prevents him from experiencing what is actually valuable in life. Genuine happiness, then, is something that might be out of the grasp of the immoral person.

  Some philosophers are skeptical about Plato’s view of happiness, but there’s at least one person in Westeros who would agree with Plato. Eddard Stark seems to think that there’s something to the moral life that makes living in an honorable and just way more important than any Iron Throne. Perhaps it’s even worth dying for.

  I Must Be One of the Few Men in This City Who Doesn’t Want to Be King (“Fire and Blood”)

  In a telling scene, Ned confronts Cersei to let her know that he has discerned the truth that Joffrey isn’t really the son of the king. He warns Cersei,

  “When the king returns from his hunt, I’ll tell him the truth. You must be gone by then, you and your children. I’ll not have their blood on my hands. Go as far away as you can, with as many men as you can, because wherever you go, Robert’s wrath will follow you.”

  “And what of my wrath, Lord Stark? You should’ve taken the crown for yourself. Jaime told me about the day King’s Landing fell. He was sitting in the Iron Throne and you made him give it up. All you needed to do was climb the steps yourself. Such a sad mistake.”

  “I’ve made many mistakes in my life, but that wasn’t one of them.”

  “Oh, but it was. When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.” (“You Win or You Die”)

  This conversation illustrates a key contrast between Ned Stark and Cersei Lannister. Cersei sees her life at King’s Landing as a competition. She loves her brother Jaime and her children, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to seize power for herself and her family. She has no time for honor or morality. It’s the Iron Throne and the power that comes with it that matters to her. Power, particularly the nearly limitless power that comes with sitting on the throne, comes with security. And to her, the stupidest mistake someone could make would be to pass up an opportunity to take the throne, to secure that privilege and safety for oneself and one’s family.

  Ned sees things differently. He might
agree with Cersei that the game of thrones is played for keeps, but he’s unwilling to play a game where the only way to win is to sacrifice your morality. To Ned there are more important things in life than power, and one’s honor, one’s morality, is of much higher importance than even a long and secure life.

  This unwillingness to compromise his ideals is one of the main reasons Ned believes he was wise in refusing to take the throne. As a young man, Ned was aware that sitting on the throne and ensuring that he stayed there would mean compromising his honor again and again. It would be to live a life in constant fear of being overthrown, a life of constant competition and moral compromise. And for Ned, there’s no happiness or even glory in that sort of life.

  Ned’s decision to reject the throne is in the spirit of Plato’s answer to the “Why be moral?” question. After all, Ned rejected the throne to return to a life in the North with his wife. He remained steadfast in his commitment to honor and virtue and carved out a surprisingly happy and fulfilling life for someone in Westeros. He spent decades in a loving home, happily raising children and ruling his own corner of the kingdom justly and wisely. He cultivated deep and genuine relationships with those he most cared about and passed on his wisdom to his children. Were it not for Robert’s insistence that he join him at King’s Landing, Ned would have lived an honorable life until the end. This bliss is something that Cersei, her family, and all those struggling for position at King’s Landing will never experience. It was Ned’s commitment to morality that allowed him to find genuine happiness, despite his full awareness that winter is coming.