Bioshock is a first-person shooter game released in 2007, that is highly acclaimed for its outstanding show-don’t-tell story, decopunk art style, its combining of immersive, emergent gameplay and the usage of objectivism.
Objectivism is a philosophy coined by Ayn Rand. It focuses on the concept of man living his own ways of life and focusing on accomplishing his goal, without being tied by someone else’s morals, advocating for objective reality, rational self interest and free-market capitalism.
“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity and reason as his only absolute,” Rand said to the Atlas Society.
Bioshock uses this philosophic term to tell a story about a “fair look at humanity.” In the game, the player explores the underwater ruins of Rapture, an isolated city built by Andrew Ryan, a man who wanted to escape the oppressive constraints of post-World War II society. The city serves as the ideal utopia, free from government regulation, organized religions and moral constraints. However, Rapture’s attempt to become the “ideal utopia,” failed due to the inherent flaws in its extreme objectivist philosophy, which created massive economic inequality, lack of social regulation and an unsustainable, narcissistic society.
Despite the heavy themes of objectivism, the game is not a direct attack on Rand’s work.
Instead it uses objectivism as a canvas to paint an image of humans trying to create a perfect word free from flaws, and when expectations meet reality.
“I’m fascinated by objectivism. I think the problem with any philosophy is that it’s up to people to carry it out,” game director Ken Levine said to gaming news outlet DualShockers. “It could have been objectivism, it could have been anything. It’s about what happens when ideals meet reality. If you had to sum up BioShock’s story, that’s what it is.”
In an age where media of all kinds tries to act smart by satirizing or making commentary on certain world views and current affairs, Bioshock 2007 doesn’t really need to satirize anything. What it does is something unique, instead of parodying Rand’s work, it uses it as base to tell a deeper story on the flawed nature of humanity.
