IDEA College Prep Donna
Philisophy within Fullmetal Alchemist
To what extent can the philosophy of “Equivalent Exchange” from the anime/manga “Fullmetal Alchemist” be applied to real world examples?
Mr. Alberto Baez
Abstract:
This essay deals with the philosophy of “Equivalent Exchange” from Fullmetal Alchemist. To be specific, the paper puts its focus on the question of : To what extent can the philosophy of “Equivalent Exchange” from the anime/manga “Fullmetal Alchemist” be applied to real world examples?
The scope of the investigation goes into depth about the philosophy followed by the alchemists. And leads to the conclusion that “Equivalent Exchange” is the value of something that is correlated by the exchange rate and depending upon location, can either be higher or lower depending on inflation within the stock market. The paper however, does not investigate other aspects of characters life other than their view towards their concepts of “Equivalent Exchange” and will not explore each of their alchemical skills and their impact in their world, In order to fully examine the research question, primary sources-including statements by the characters- and secondary sources-such as fan interpretations- will be used.
Introduction:
A short summary of Fullmetal Alchemist philosophy, including, but not limited to, the characters and their views, putting emphasis on their beliefs towards the philosophy and its implementation and function in their society. The laws set in place put limitations on the alchemy used, and many of these laws are based upon the fact that if something is to be created, something of equal value must be put up as payment. Following this, the government monitors who can use alchemy, limiting its capabilities only within the government. However, there are instances in which people who do not work in government are allowed to use this power, as seen when there is a drafting for the army.
As with their world, there is a certain form of currency used in order to exchange for certain goods, excluding their alchemic capabilities. As with anything, objects, whether it be for necesities or for pleasure, cost money, and if you don’t have the money, you can’t purchase the objects. Also, with the value of the currency fluxuating based on the stock market, its value aborad also changes.
Just as with purchasing objects, there are also taxes that must be paid to the government in order to keep it functioning. Usually, the more money a person earns annually, means that their taxes would be higher compared to someone of low economic status. As with the fluxuating stock market, the taxes imposed on goods, especially luxuy good, makes it more than its actual value, raising it and making it harder to purchase.
With the constant need to give something of equal value in order to get something in return, leads us to question how similar our situations are and thus, leads of to the question of to what extent can the philosophy of “Equivalent Exchange” from the anime/manga “Fullmetal Alchemist” be applied to real world examples?
In order to create a response for the question, the investigation will glance at the philosophy of “Equivalent Exchange” and compare that to the function of society with the use of currency for objects and taxes imposed by the government based on income.
The Value of Currency:
The world that surrounds us revolves around currency and monetary value and even more so when it is concerning the value of the currency in different parts of the world. This, along with the alchemy in Fullmetal Alchemist, ties into the exchange rate and the value between a nation’s currency and its value in a foreign nation. When concerning out situation in the real world, and instance where this is seen is with the US dollar as it is the base currency and when used to determine how high or how low the exchange rate is, its value can either be more or less depending on it’s location (Ex.) 1 US Dollar = 1.1050 Canadian Dollars; This means that the US dollar’s value is less than that of the Canadian dollar and as such more money is needed in order to purchase an item.).
Floating currency ties into how the money is to be used in stock and how much is needed to maintain is fixed average. Part of the country maintaining it’s fixed average is based on the percentage of consumer product and how much they are buying. This is why there is a constant change within our economy and why the value of our currency and its value abroad in other countries fluxuates on a daily basis. Floating and fixed currency vary within each country and depends on how much their currency is worth compared to the US dollar. With that, another contributing factor to the fluxuation aside from the floating and fixed currency is a country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The GDP shows how high a nations consumer rate is and how profitable it is to buy from that location through trade. Although, even though the floating and fixed currency is an important factor in all things, the main concept is that the people continue to purchase product even witht the taxes imposed on those goods.
As such, the value of currency within our realm is the same as in the realm within the world of Fullmetal Alchemist, that being the object being exchanged in order to create. The majority of the time, the soil/dirt of the ground is used to create an object along with an alchemist symbol below it in order to allow the transmutation to occur. When a transmutation requires more in exchange, the majority of the time it will take something of the person attempting to transmutate something. This is evident when the main character Edwards and Alphonse Elric make an attempt in order to bring back their mother who had perished from disease years ago. The alchemy of necromancy is forbidden, and as such, when attempted, something will more serious will be taken from the person performing the ritual. In Edward and Alphonse’s case, Edward lost his leg and Alphonse lost his body, and in an attempt to save Alphonse, Edward bound his brothers soul to a nearby statue of armor, but in the process lost his arm. The more dangerous the ritual, the more that cost, just as within our world. Although the currency to gain something isn’t exactly the same, the fact that something needs to be exchanged in order to receive something in return remains the same.
The Value of an Item:
The Price of an item is something that is not permanent and is subject to change. This also depends on how popular a product is and how much it costs to produce the product. An instance where this can be see is how over time, the value of a vehicle decreases over the years and if there is damage done to the original the value will continue to decrease as well.
An area where this is in the Theory of Value, where the theory looks at the fixed and relaxed growths and looks at factors that bring about prosperity and growth in economic growth. Each factor is different from the next and affects different parts of the economy. This also ties into how the value of the currency affects how popular/expensive it is when it is shown to to the consumer. An example of this are the exports, imports, GDC of a country and how much it changes with the market, interlocking the value of currency with the value of an item. Each area reacts differently to different stimuli within the economy, and possibilities of growth could increase production and/or increase it to the point in which their growth reaches a certain limit and will experience a period of decay during their growth. The saying “everything that goes up, must come down” is imlied here, showcasing that even though there is a constant growth for a certain product, there will be a period in which there is a period of decay. The decay can either be caused by another product with similar function and design, posing competition for the product, or the production of the product has decreased, making the price rise in number in order to compensate for the pause/stall of production. The growth aspect is dependent on the consumer percentage that purchases a certain product and with increased production of that product, value begins to fall and vice versa with less production of that product. Without the consumer, a brand cannot exist, and without the consumer purchasing the product, the producer cannot earn revenue, and as such cannot return back into the economy.
As technology and products continue to evolve through the changing times, the value of a product will continue to grow and change as time goes on. Change is inevitable and the value of the currency is constantly changing as the flow within the stock market continues to fluctuates in order to meet the demands of the consumer and of the price needed in order to produce the products within the country as well as the products being sold to its foreign neighbors. This plays into why certain products cost less or more depending on the value of the currency for that country along with how high or how low the stock market is on every given day.
Going back into the value of the currency, the way a product sells in foreign countries depends on the consumer where it originated and might not be the same abroad. The item might not sell well where it originated, but it might sell well abroad, and vice versa where the product will sell well where it originated, but when exposed to the seas abroad, might not do good. An example the fluxuation is with the peso and how on average, its normal value is usually only half of that of a US dollar and as such twice as much is needed to purchase products with that currency in the US and less is needed to purchase products with US currency in Mexico. As such, their currency needs to go through a conversion method in order to purchase the product through the correct currency. The cost of each product varies upon the discretion of the company creating it, and as such its value can shift depending on its dealers/companies promoting such product.
For Equivilent Exchange, the currency being used are the elements of the periodic table, since those that occur naturally are safer than those created by other people, as they can be unstable and cause backlash on the person performing alchemy. One specific law is that anything that is created has to be something that is attainablle in reality, and if there was an attempt to create something of that manner, the person who created it would suffer consequences, such as Edward and Alphonse did when they made the attempt to resurrect their mother who had died from a mysterious illness months prior. Natural occuring elements consist of helium oxygen, carbon, Lithium, boron, phosphate, etc. are the main components when using alchemy and tieing back into creating something that is attainable, only natural elements can be used.
Philosophy of Equivalent Exchange:
The philosophy follows the statement that “one needs to provide materials of equal value compared to the thing one want to create” In basic terms something must be given in order to receive a certain product (e.g. The exchange of cash for product( food, toys, cars, house, etc.)) The materials that must be provided differ based on the object the alchemist wants to create, and as such, only certain objects are attainable through alchemy.
With the case of the series, there are multiple types of alchemy and as such different materials must be exchanged in order to create what the alchemist is conceptualizing. With the case of cetain alchemy requiring certain elements in order be created, making some who are specialized in a certain field. For those who specialize in flame alchemy, they require elements and objects that are flammable or are components of something that has the possibility of exploding/combusting. With that, some alchemy require more materials in order to materialize their creation, (e.g. fire, iron) but there are cases in such like earth alchemy that are able to create by using the earth as their transaction. By that, those who use the basics of alchemy are able to use the soil, as well as trees, concrete, gravel, etc. as their form of payment in order to create the creation they want at that given time.
Each of the characters has a different viewpoint towards the philosophy, some even embody this philosophy and make it known that this is the set rule for alchemy and nothing can be done to break it. With that, this also brings about people who go against the set rules for the alchaeic community and try to use its power for there own personal gain. With that, the government has its own set of alchemist, Edward and Alphonse included, who try and stunt their plans and try them for their crimes. This ties into the sciences as they alchemists need to have heavy knowledge of the periodic table and which element is needed when they are about to perform a transmutation. Not only that, the fact that cells can’t be destroyed and come from other preexisting cells weighs heavily on that concept of that transmutations must be created from elements and items that are already existing within the real world. The concept of alchemy is tied back into the sciences and as such the philosophy originated surrounding the concept of combining substances in order to create a brand new one. This is why certain elements are needed in order create the new product (Ex.) The periodic table is mentioned throughout the basis of the series and as such certain elements are needed to create certain). things such as the basic element of a living matter and what is found in everything that is created.Everything is created by basic elements that are found in everything and if one of those elements is missing, the item cannot be created.
Conclusion:
After thouroughly examining all aspects of the philosophy of equivilent exchange, the value of currency, and the value of an item, is that the investigation has led to the conclusion that the law of equivelent exchange is evident within the economical aspect of our world in addition to the philisophical portion of it.
Even though this concept is froma place of fiction, it’s role within the real world is still present. As shown, nothing can be received without giving something of equal value in return, and as such, its role is more significant that what was first interpreted. Other contributing factor that were not discussed in depth were the scientific concepts of alchemy and how it’s creation can cause contrversoy as it is seen within our world as too powerful, as they are able to create objects out of only basic things as soil and the elements present within the air. With these areas not gone into depth with, there is room for these section to be evaluated by another individual who has an interest in the same topic, but wishes to evaluate only a certain portion of it.
Works Cited:
Picardo, C. E. (2017, October 31). Exchange Rate. Retrieved May 22, 2018, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/exchangerate.asp
Taylor, K. S. (1996). Chapter 6: Theories of Value. Retrieved May 22, 2018, from http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/jhamlin/4111/2111-home/value.htm
“How Does the Equivalent Exchange of Alchemy Work?” Anime & Manga Stack Exchange, https://www.anime.stackexchange.com/questions/105/how-does-the-equivalent-exchange-of-alchemy-work.
“Philosophy Discussion Forums.” A Socratic Perspective on the Nature of Human Evil – Philosophy Discussion Forums, onlinephilosophyclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6046.
Marcano, Adrian. “The Hidden Philosophy in Anime: 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'.” Inverse, Inverse, 26 Oct. 2016, www.inverse.com/article/17504-fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood-anime-philosophy.
“Theological Alchemy: the Philosopher's Stone, the Law of Equivalent Exchange, and the Atonement.” Almost Heresy, 29 Jan. 2015, www.almostheresy.com/2015/01/theological-alchemy-philosophers-stone-law-equivalent-exchange-atonement/.