The Philosophy in 'Ghost in the Shell'

The Soul in the Shell

"Ghost in the Shell" is derived from "Ghost in the Machine," originally coined by Gilbert Ryle to mock Descartes' mind-body dualism. Shirow Masamune borrowed this term to express a common theme in cyberpunk: the contradiction and confusion humans face regarding their existence in the technological age.

Suppose the mind can be simulated by artificial intelligence. In that case, powerful machines can replace the body, and even the soul can emerge from the chaotic sea of information; then, we cannot ascertain our unique existence and value.

"Shell" is a term used in computer science, referring to the parser of a command-line interface. Simply put, Shell is the interface through which programs and users interact. Abstractly speaking, the Shell is like the boundary of a program, while the program's internals are called the "Core," which does not interact with the outside world, much like the soul does not interact with the phenomenal realm.

In "Ghost in the Shell," the term Shell refers to the body (cyborg), while Ghost refers to the soul (equivalent to the program's Core). According to Arthur Schopenhauer's theory, the body is the expression of the will in the phenomenal realm, so the body (cyborg) is the boundary of the self, just as the Shell is the boundary of a program. "I" am the sum of the things I have experienced; "I" am the unique sequence generated by my experiences. Using "Ghost" instead of "Spirit" or "Soul" to refer to the soul, although it is because of the reference to Ryle's terminology, the more important meaning is that we cannot confirm the existence of the soul at all, so the concept of the soul may just be a kind of illusory ghost.

Technology Divinity

The paragraph begins with the creation of a clone by Motoko Kusanagi, showcasing a sense of technological divinity. Our original bodies are weak and feeble, while machines possess boundless power akin to the gods in mythical epics. As a result, people naturally develop a reverence for technology. Our original bodies have various flaws and deficiencies, but artificial skin is flawless, and mechanical forms are perfect, like ancient Greek sculptures. Each strand of fiber never fades, causing even "beauty" to submit to the god of technology. Our original bodies experience birth, aging, illness, and death. Yet, the created bodies fulfill humanity's ancient fantasy of immortality (although electronic brains can still die, in the original work, Motoko Kusanagi transcends this in the end). Therefore, the god of technology is essentially the divine pursuit of immortality inherent in each of us.

System Theory

Everything has flaws, and the vulnerability of a system is determined from the very beginning. For complex systems, patching one vulnerability will inevitably introduce new ones - just like a Rubik's Cube, focusing on one side's colors will inevitably disrupt the colors on the other side unless you have a perception beyond the three-dimensional scale. Therefore, the best expectation is to transfer the vulnerability equivalently from a critical position to a minor one. If vulnerability can be reduced, then the architect of the system is already god-like. Eliminating all vulnerabilities in a complex system can only be the work of the Creator, but it seems that even he cannot accomplish it.

For a system, what matters is not the ability to detect errors or the ability to correct them but the ability to tolerate them. Increasing the system's fault tolerance will inevitably increase its redundancy. The two cannot be achieved simultaneously, so we ultimately obtain a robust system, not a "perfect" one. All the bright, precious things fade so fast." The central nervous system favors single, extreme stimuli, just like the characters in literary works are always distinctive and sharp-edged. However, real people are not so extreme. Each person's personality is a synthesis of countless personalities; each self is made up of fragments aggregated by will, and each person's genes accumulate the memories of countless ancestors.

People admire the famous words of Faust: "Two souls, alas, are housed within my breast.” However, a person's soul is more than just split in two - it is a Stand Alone Complex system composed of countless discrete pieces of information. Therefore, as the other Major said, a person's essence is more like a fortress, a moving territory, ruling over a multitude of personalities composed of the tyranny of will.

The Garden of Forking Paths

For individuals, memory is the most deceptive. It makes one feel as though time is reversible. However, memory is not a mere reproduction of the past but a reconstruction. Otherwise, our brains would all be time machines. Memory is a fantasy of the past generated through key nodes. It is fundamentally similar to dreams. The materials used in each memory image are selected from your current experiences. Every recollection is a fresh creation. People often project their current experiences onto the past and subconsciously shape their memories according to their imagination. We are like ever-changing actors trying to recreate the same scene, attempting to regain the initial impact. However, that initial performance's awe can never be replicated. Humans exist solely in the "now" node, perceiving the illusions of the "past" and "future" simultaneously. Everything else, except for the "now," does not exist.

The World of Will and Appearance

Motoko said she felt "fear, worry, loneliness, darkness, and perhaps even hope" in the water. In response, Batou questioned, "Hope? In the pitch-black sea?" This is a metaphor for the condition of humans. If we interpret above and below the sea surface as the essence and reality, the human predicament is like being a mayfly in pitch-black depths. This existential emptiness and suffering are absolute. The world we experience is ultimately indirect, like a projection of the essence (the phenomenal world can also be seen as a projection of the essence into lower-dimensional space). All experiences are first transformed into neural signals before being cognized by us. Hence, people are unaware of the true essence behind the veil and only live in the world of appearances.

The "hope" that Motoko sees corresponds to the passage spoken by the Puppet Master:

I am connected to a vast network (the original). I am only a small part of it. To you, who have not yet experienced contact, it may only be perceived as a beam of light.

The perception of the subject towards the original is like the sunlight that Motoko sees when floating toward the surface of the sea. This experience that occurs when connected to the original is what is called "happiness," distinct from the "pleasure" generated by desire.

According to Wittgenstein's view, this water surface is the "logical boundary," which is also the boundary of the self. Just before coming into contact with the water’s surface, Motoko sees her own reflection, just as a person can only outline their own shape by continuously touching the boundaries of the self. Breaking through this water surface leads to an indescribable realm, complete clarity. The process of floating towards the water surface is a metaphor for the ascension of the soul. It is evident that Motoko possessed this transcendent attribute from the beginning, which is why she continuously repeats the habit of "diving" and "surfacing" in her subconscious. This also foreshadows the culmination of Motoko's ascension to the other side through the fusion with the Puppet Master.

Mechanical Descend

In the end, the battle in the museum was shrouded in a solemn atmosphere, representing the final settlement between humans and machines. The close-ups of numerous weapons and the detailed description of the tanks depict the fascination with firearms control and body control. As the machine gun sweeps across, it shatters the ancient fish fossils, symbolizing the monumental achievement of fish stepping onto land and surpassing its own existence in the history of biological evolution. The machine gun also demolishes the tree of evolution, stopping in front of the "human" species. This may metaphorically question and inspire humanity by the mechanical god: all the conditions are in place, and the moment for humanity to transcend its own existence has arrived. Just like fish stepping onto land, humans will reach a new realm by surpassing the inherent limitations of the physical body through fusion with machines.

In the end, Motoko attempts to open the hatch of the thinking tank using her own strength but ends up becoming fragmented. This explains why she is nicknamed "Mother Ape". Furthermore, since the internal structure of the cyborg has already been established, it would be meaningless if it was not shown to the audience. Therefore, Motoko must be fragmented because if the internal machinery is not exposed, people may easily forget that this body is not a real physical body. This scene has become a classic still frame in cyberpunk history, with machines entwined with flesh-severed limbs extending electrical cables and interfaces. This itself has become a symbol of cyberpunk. Therefore, almost all promotional illustrations featuring Motoko alone depict her in a state of nudity and dismemberment.

Entities and Illusions

The most important change in Ghost in the Shell 2.0 should be the replacement of the Puppet Master's voice actor with a female in order to completely eliminate speculation about a romantic relationship between the original Puppet Master and Motoko. The Puppet Master says, "I see myself in you," "just like an entity and an illusion." What they have in common is that they have never experienced a body's physical limitations. I remember that Motoko's original setting was that she had been a cyborg since birth, or according to the TV version, she was fully modified at a very young age, so she hardly formed a mature self to experience the physical body. And when her personality became fixed, she realized that she was already trapped in a machine, like a ghost in a shell. So Motoko was already different from ordinary humans from the beginning. Just as the Puppet Master formed a self in the ocean of cyberspace, Motoko also drifted and formed a self within the manufactured shell.

Motoko has always been an ambiguous person: she is not the type of philosopher but a realist, yet deep within her, there is a doubt about existence, but all her actions, in reality, are unaffected, like complete mind-body dualism; she is very aware of the limitations of justice, but she does not hesitate to dirty her hands for it, always feeling like she is just passing time with her work within the system; she has always acted as a gatekeeper for the system, and the pursuit of the Puppet Master is just a political event, without any metaphysical significance; however, in the end, this person within the system actually discovered divinity and even surpassed the existence of humanity itself, which completely contradicts the principles of the story, resembling a mechanical incarnation.

The human body is made up of countless components; these components simultaneously form unique personalities. Of course, my face and voice are different from others, but my memories belong to me alone, and I also have my own destiny. This is only a small part of it. I have my own way of collecting and consulting information. It is through these that my individuality is formed, along with my sense of good and evil. Although I feel restricted, I am able to stretch myself within these constraints.