The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy_ I Link Therefore I Am - Luke Cuddy [127]
70
This information appears in Jacques Lacan, The Language of the Self (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1968).
71
Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (Cambridge, 1997), p. 7.
72
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (Penguin), p. 89.
73
Aristotle distinguishes between different types of wisdom, and each kind falls under the heading of intellectual virtues—not moral virtues. Only the moral virtues fit into the Doctrine of the Mean. What I mean by Zelda’s wisdom is more of what Aristotle would regard as prudence, which is a moral virtue, and is the knowledge to choose the correct actions in particular practical circumstances.
74
I would like to thank Luke Cuddy, Scott Davison, and the University of Kentucky Writing Center for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this chapter. This chapter is written in memory of my grandfather, Bob Calloway, a man of immense wisdom.
75
For the original text of Mackie’s argument, see “Evil and Omnipotence,” Mind 64 (1955), pp. 200-212.
76
For the original text of Plantinga’s argument see The Nature of Necessity (Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 164-193.
77
Plantinga uses an argument based on something known as “transworld depravity” to support the free-will defense. I have not gotten into the concept here for simplicity’s sake but the interested reader can go to Plantinga’s original work.
78
For the text of Hick’s soul-making theodicy see Stephen T. Davis, ed., Encountering Evil: Live Options in Theodicy (Westminster/John Knox, 1981), pp. 39-52.
79
Whether or not Link has free will is a different discussion, and is addressed in Chapter 14 of this volume.
80
This mythology is first revealed in Ocarina of Time. However, that version of the creation story does contradict another legend described in the earlier game A Link to the Past. According to the English manual of that game, Hyrule was created by three gods, not goddesses. But given the adoption of the goddess mythology and the continuing role of the goddesses, especially Nayru, throughout further installments in the Zelda franchise, it seems fair to characterize the feminine version as the dominant mythology.
81
Once, an early prince of Hyrule wanted to inherit the Triforce. He and a corrupt magician questioned his sister, the Princess Zelda, about its whereabouts, but when she refused to disclose anything, the magician cast her into an impenetrable sleep. In despair, the prince decreed that all the princesses of Hyrule be called Zelda.
82
Whether Zelda is merely disguised as Sheik or has actually transformed into a man is the subject of some debate. It may be that in the Japanese version of the game she has actually transformed, whereas in the game released in the US, the implication is that she is simply disguised.
83
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (Vintage, 1989).
84
From an edited transcript of a speech made on March 24th by Eiji Aonuma at the 2004 Game Developers Conference in San Jose.
Volume 36 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy®, edited by George A. Reisch
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The Legend of Zelda and philosophy : I link therefore I am / edited by Luke Cuddy p. cm.—(Popular