Transformers and Philosophy

by Shook, John, Swan, Liz

  Equal Love

  Until the day . . . all are one . . .

  —OPTIMUS PRIME in Transformers: The Movie (1986)

  I am sick and tired of being responsible for the entire universe and its outlying suburbs.

  —RODIMUS PRIME in “The Burden Hardest to Bear”

  The ancient Greek Stoics, whose founder was Zeno of Citium (344–262 B.C.E.), had a conception of love as a kind of universal respect for all of humankind that we’ll call equal love. This equal love requires that one should be detached enough from this world and its pleasures to appreciate the beauty and goodness of all of humanity. Such a detachment would bring about a universal harmony and peace, which is the ultimate goal of a happy life. Stoic love treats all humans equally as “Citizens of the World,” as opposed to being concerned only with one’s own family or the citizens in one’s own community. The Stoic conception of love is similar to Immanuel Kant’s (1724–1804) call for general respect for persons as “ends in themselves.” For both the Stoics and Kant, this kind of universal equalizing love is something that needs to be fostered if peace both within communities and among communities is ever to be achieved.

  This form of love is a strong underlying theme in all of the Transformers stories. First, the general care and concern Optimus Prime and the other Autobots have for their own Transformers kind, as well as for humankind, is a clear example of this equal love. All Transformers and all humans—evil or good, young or old, weak or strong—are deserving of basic rights, privileges and respect. The Autobots exhibit this kind of loving to the extent that they will treat their Decepticon enemies with kind, loving, respect, despite the fact that the Decepticons wouldn’t think twice about disrespecting the Autobots or enslaving all of Earth: “The conquest of this planet and the enslavement of its people will be a simple task . . . indeed” (Shockwave, Transformers #5). There are plenty of instances where a Decepticon gets himself or herself into a dangerous situation that seems fatal, yet gets saved by an Autobot. Often, the Decepticon immediately turns right around and, instead of expressing thanks, tries to kill the Autobot who just saved him!

  Family Love

  They made me into a weapon and turned me on all those I loved in life.

  —OPTIMUS PRIME in “Dark Awakening”

  Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime are often portrayed as brothers with a kind of love only brothers could understand. The same goes for Jazz and Sparkplug. There is a Christian idea of love known as agape (pronounced ‘agapay’) that emphasizes a kind of unconditional love like the one finds in a family. For Christians, God is seen as a kind of father who loves His creation with a deep and profound bond that nothing can ever break. Families stay together through good times and bad times, sometimes treating each other badly and taking each other for granted. There are plenty of instances of this in Transformers stories. We have all heard of family situations where there seems to be nothing that an individual could do that would cause other members of the family to stop loving him or her. Think of the psychopath who is just about to be executed whose family members still claim, “he’s still my son” or “he’ll always be my brother.”

  In family dynamics, there is usually someone who is spoiled, someone who takes charge of things, someone who fixes things, someone who lays down the law, someone who gets walked all over, someone who’s the youngest trying to compete with older siblings . . . Hey! This sounds just like the characters in Transformers stories!

  A Transformation?

  As the song goes, “Love stinks!”2 Or, at least as a philosophical concept, it’s difficult to pin down. It’s incredibly difficult to know what makes a creature capable of love. We have seen, however, that, whatever it would take to make an organic creature (like a human) capable of love would probably work for robots as well. In addition, there are many kinds of loving relationships, and to whatever degree Transformers are capable of love, they will have to bear the responsibility and heartache (error message?) that comes with it.

  One of the reasons the Transformers series is so popular is its portrayal of the aspects of our real-life family relationships—complete with all kinds of complex loving relationships. The flip-side of those loving relationships are hateful ones, and the Transformers series have no shortage of these kind of relationships either. In fact, we learn how to be loving by witnessing the hate. Hopefully, we can transform hate to love in all we do.

  _________

  1 From: http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:9kZ7a8DoXBYJ:

  www.allspark.com/forums/index.php%3Fshowtopic%3D12124+

  transformers+cosmic+harmony&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us.

  2 J. Geils Band, 1980.

  EPISODE FIVE

  _________________

  Good versus Evil

  11

  Good Robot, Bad Robot, What’s the Difference?

  NICOLAS MICHAUD

  Here’s the deal—the Autobots are Good and the Decepticons are Evil. Right? From the first episode’s introduction the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons is described as a battle of “good versus evil.” The Autobots seem to be clearly good, while the Decepticons seem to be, clearly, very bad. But is it really that easy?

  While Optimus Prime is obviously going out of his way to refrain from crushing puny humans under foot, Megatron seems to be doing his best to squish as many humans as he can while fighting for domination of the Universe. But what motivates these intelligent robots to act the way that they do? Is it just as simple as a matter of the Autobots are programmed to be good and the Decepticons are programmed to be evil? What do “good” and “evil” even mean?

  We will find that if we look a little deeper, these robots are not motivated so differently from you and me. As a matter of fact, the ethical rules that motivate these gargantuan robots are the rules that govern our own actions. Much like us, these robots don’t always understand the ethical rules that they follow. But, due to their size, power, and intelligence, their choices and these rules have a far greater impact than with the average human and provide us with an excellent opportunity to understand what it is that we mean when we say “good” and “evil.”

  What Motivates a Giant Robot?

  So what is it that motivates these machines to do as they do? Even if they’re just programmed to be good or bad, what does that mean? If I program a machine and input the rule “be evil” there would be a great deal of confusion. The machine also needs to know what actions count as evil.

  Well, the Transformers are far more complex than any machine we can build. So it’s likely that there is more to them then just basic programming. They probably have a whole set of rules that they follow, much the same way that we do. Humans learn all kinds of ethical rules. Some of us follow the “golden rule” and others follow the laws of the land. Some rules are religious, like the Ten Commandments, and some rules are purely selfish like “Look out for Number One.” As a matter of fact, when two groups of people have two different sets of rules, there is often a fight—not so different from the Autobots and Decepticons. The question that we need to answer is “What rules do the Autobots follow that make them good and what rules do the Decepticons follow that make them evil?”

  Let’s consider the actions of the Transformers. Perhaps by observing what they do and how they act, we can figure out the guidelines they follow. Consider the Autobots, specifically Optimus Prime. Although it may be easy just to describe him as someone who is good or does good, what is it that he actually does? Well, we do know that he fights the Decepticons. Just fighting, by itself, is generally not considered a good action. But, the way in which he fights might be an indicator of his goodness. Notice that Prime fights fairly. He is not the kind to attack an unarmed or helpless opponent. Moreover, he is very concerned with collateral damage. Prime goes out of his way to make sure that no humans are hurt in his battles with Megatron.

  How Do the Autobots Act?

  One of the Autobots’ most telling qualities is their desire to help humans. The fight ag
ainst the Decepticons might be far easier to win if the Autobots did not concern themselves with the welfare of humans. By contrast, the Decepticons are well aware of the fact that they can use human frailty as leverage against the Autobots. Nevertheless, although it makes the battle far more difficult, the Autobots and Optimus Prime continue to try to save human lives.

  The Autobots go even further than just preserving human life. They seem even to value human friendship. The Autobots most notably make friends with Spike and Sparkplug with Witwicky. Spike, who befriends the Autobots very early on, eventually becomes the Human diplomat to Cybertron. Spike’s friendship with Bumblebee is perhaps the strongest friendship depicted in the Transformers’ Universe.

  This brings up a very important quality of the Autobots. Although it may seem perfectly normal to us for one human to make friends with another, it seems rather unusual that a robot would become friends with a human. The Autobots are superior to humans in almost every way. They are smarter, stronger, faster, technologically more advanced, yet Bumblebee befriends Spike not as a pet or object of amusement, but as a true friend. This speaks highly of the quality of the Autobots’ character. Their ability to befriend, trust, and respect creatures far inferior to themselves is a moral quality that even many humans lack.

  So here we have a few examples which help us determine what motivates the Autobots. They fight fairly, respect their enemies, value innocent life, and befriend others regardless of difference in appearance or ability. We can probably infer a few things from these actions. They are compassionate, loyal, and dutiful. Optimus Prime epitomizes all of these qualities. He always does his duty and shows respect for all life. Regardless of differences in belief, ability or appearance, the Autobots respect those who show basic reasoning capacity and the ability to feel. This is a far cry from the Decepticons who do not even respect those who are superior to them.

  Deceit and the Decepticons

  So how is it that the Decepticons act? It is clear that they are not interested in friendship with humans. Moreover, they are not concerned with loss of human life. They are not even concerned about the deaths of other Decepticons. Consider the rivalry between Megatron and Starscream. They are only concerned with each other as so far as they find each other useful. Starscream makes no pretense about the fact that he wants to get rid of Megatron and Megatron’s distain for Starscream is obvious. Whereas the Autobots are willing to make friends even outside of their own species, the Decepticons cannot seem even to make friends with each other.

  Megatron is willing to do whatever is necessary in order to gain control of the universe, as is Starscream. Megatron is simply stronger and so he continues to rule the Decepticons. Whereas the Autobots follow Optimus Prime out of respect and admiration for who he is, the Decepticons follow Megatron out of fear. Megatron is ruthless and cruel; Starscream is deceptive and conniving. They, and the rest of the Decepticons, murder, cheat, lie, and steal in order to achieve their ends. For example, the Autobots rely on generosity or fair trade to gain the energon cubes they need; the Decepticons simply take them. If anyone tries to stop the Decepticons, the obstacle is simply eliminated.

  There’s an odd bit of Decepticon behavior that does not fit the norm. It does seem that Megatron has a kind of respect for Optimus Prime. He has even prevented others from killing Prime in the past. The Autobots and Decepticons have even teamed up together. But why would Megatron work with Prime? The reason is very different from the reasons that motivate the Autobots. Whereas Prime always holds out hope for others and the possibility they might choose good, Megatron and the Decepticons are willing to use their enemies when necessary. Megatron has prevented others from killing Prime because he wants the pleasure of killing Prime himself. He will work with Prime to stop a mutual enemy but then has no qualms about betraying Prime as soon as his ends have been achieved. What we come to realize is that the Decepticons are really only motivated by their own self-interests. In virtually every case, the Decepticons’ actions are such that they place all others, including other Decepticons, far behind their own interests.

  What’s So Bad about Being Selfish?

  Is it that easy? Are the Decepticons just selfish—end of story? What seems unsatisfying about this answer is that we all seem to be selfish. And in that case, they aren’t really all that bad, right? Isn’t every action we take one that, in the end, benefits us? In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes argues that we are all, in our hearts, selfish. He claims that our natural state or state of nature is one which is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Hobbes’s image of humanity seems to be a dark and bleak one, but is there some truth to it? Is everything we do simply motivated by selfishness?

  The answer is a matter of perspective. Consider any action that we take, even the most altruistic: why do we do it? Imagine that you save a child from being crushed by Megatron. Do you save the child without any benefit to yourself? Any answer you give can be one which sounds, in the end, selfish. Let’s remove all the reasons that are obviously selfish, like saving the child for a reward or for fame. But what if you saved the child because you believe it is something you should do because God tells you to do so? If you are doing it to please God or get into heaven, then isn’t it an action that you are really doing to benefit yourself? Or if you commit the act just because it is “the right thing to do” aren’t you doing it because doing the right thing makes you feel good? Watching the child drown would have made you feel very bad. So, isn’t Hobbes right? Are all of our actions, in the end, selfish ones?

  This idea that we are all only able to act from our own self-interests is called psychological egoism. It seems as if it is a matter of perspective. Don’t we want people to feel good when they save children and do other good things? Yes, it may be that doing right things because they make you feel good seems selfish, but isn’t that better than doing right things and feeling bad about them? Isn’t it better that you feel good about saving the child from Megatron than if you feel bad about saving the child? What would you think of someone who saves the child and then says “wow, I really wish I had let Megatron squish this kid.” We want people to feel good about the good things they do, not regret them! So, perhaps we are all motivated to some degree by our own self-interest and Hobbes is right, but not entirely. But, now there’s a new problem: perhaps we can act because we feel good about doing things to help others, but should we?

  Why a Good Decepticon Only Worries About Himself

  The fact of the matter is that the Decepticons are not just selfish in the sense that we feel good when we do things to help others, but they don’t want to help others. The Decepticons seem to believe that it’s a sign of weakness to put the needs of others before our own. They do whatever’s necessary to get ahead, and believe that others are only valuable insofar as they are useful. The Decepticons are what philosophers call “normative egoists.” Normative egoists believe that a person should only do what is in his or her long-term self-interest. Whether or not we are naturally selfish, the normative egoist will argue that you should do what is best for yourself, regardless of the consequences for others.

  Imagine that you have a conversation with Starscream. You ask him why he does the things he does. Starscream is likely to tell you he acts as he does because he deserves to get what he wants. Starscream would tell you that he should lead the Decepticons because he is best suited to the job. When you ask Starscream why he is willing to do things that most people would consider wrong in order to get what he wants, he would probably say something like, “Well it is survival of the fittest; if they are not smart enough to do what I want, then they deserve what they get.” But would Starscream and the normative egoists be correct in saying this? Should we only worry about the things we want regardless of who gets hurt?

  There is at least one huge problem with being a normative egoist: if you argue that everyone should do only what’s in their best interest then it is probably not in your best interest. Think about Starscream for a moment: he gi
ves Megatron no reason to trust him, nor any of the other Decepticons. The fact that he broadcasts his own egoism results in the fact that he rarely has opportunity to gain the control he seeks. No one trusts him and everyone is aware that he is willing to do anything and hurt anyone to get what he wants. It seems that it makes no sense for the normative egoist to encourage others to be normative egoists. Someone might respond that Egoism is actually a very bad idea as it is not even good for the Egoist. The only way we can really get anywhere or win a war like the battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons is by being able to trust each other. In other words, we want to trust that others will do their duty.

  Why the Autobots Do Their Duty

  Here, we can see what drives the Autobots: they are motivated by their duty to themselves and to each other. This enables them to succeed in ways in which the Decepticons are likely to fail. Optimus Prime does not have to worry about the other Autobots betraying him because he knows they will do their duty. But what guarantee is there that they will do there duty? Why would they follow the rules all the time?