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The Philosophy of Squid Game
The Netflix show Squid Game has an interesting premise which is a life or death survival game based on children's games located in South Korea. While the show itself is entertaining from the premise alone it also contains a deep philosophical struggle.
There is a struggle in ethics known as egoism vs altruism. Egoism states we are motivated by our own self interest and desires when it comes to our actions. Altruism, by contrast, refers to behaviors performed to benefit someone else for that person or things sake not our own. Proponents of egoism often conclude human beings are selfish by nature while the altruist might argue against that notion.
Spoiler alert from here on out.
Squid Game’s main protagonist Seong Gi-Hun seems to be selfish in the initial scenes of the show but through various scenes it is shown he does what he does for his daughter. He puts himself through the game because he doesn’t want to be excluded from her life and he wants to take care of his sick mother. Other main characters such as Kang Sae-Byeok, Abdul Ali, and Cho Sang-Woo all join the games to benefit their loved ones. The motives of these individuals mainly seem altruistic but are they?
Gi-Hun refuses to find a steady paying job to help his older mother and he even steals from her. He also refuses money from his daughter’s step father…
