enderbean719
This review may contain spoilers
"I firmly believe that there is a way to resolve this."
Love and Destiny was a charming Chinese drama, and the most philosophically robust I've seen so far. Yet, this drama casts a more fascinating moral dilemma. The main actress, born half heaven goddess and half mountain goddess, is raised by her uncle who never told her the truth about her birth. Being born during the great demon war, as an infant she was separated from her parents during the chaos, only to become victim to the Demon Lord himself. In the Demon Lord’s last act before being defeated by the gods, he infected this infant baby girl with a curse that will allow him to resurrect through her body.
Only one man was a witness to the Demon Lord’s last curse, yet this witness was struck with 50,000 years of being crystallized into ice by his injuries during the war. The infant goddess now grown up, no one is aware of the secret curse contained within her body. This witness reclaims his status as God of War, and inadvertently falls in love with this blossoming goddess. Eventually the clues start lining up and every god in heaven believes that she must be executed before the Demon Lord can resurrect and begin his murderous atrocities once again. God of War must decide if collective peace is worth the execution of the woman he loves.
Episode 20 delves into a philosophic debate between God of War and his esteemed master, the Heavenly Supreme Lord. His master, emanating wisdom in his age and visage, exhorts God of War to do the right thing and allow his lover to be executed in order to safeguard the wellbeing of the masses. God of War stubbornly rejects his proposal, anxious to find another way.
Heavenly Supreme Lord tells God of War that he has already meditated on this problem for ages, constantly in spiritual communion with heaven and earth, and has been unable to find another way. God of War, embracing deontology, explains that the goddess is completely innocent and does not deserve such a harsh punishment. Heavenly Supreme Lord, embracing consequentialism, explains that no one wants her to die, it's just that her fate necessitates it – how can we accept the deaths of the majority in order to spare the minority?
God of War rejoins with the fact that if he can’t protect the goddess, how can he have the audacity to protect the masses? Heavenly Supreme Lord replies, “If you knew that the welfare of all living creatures depended upon your death, would you be willing to die for them?” God of War naturally agrees that he is willing to take this heroic action for all creatures. His master then ensnares him with, “If it's okay for you to die for the welfare of all creatures, why can’t she die for the welfare of all creatures??” God of War now unable to respond, Heavenly Supreme Lord helps him enter a meditative state where he too can become connected with heaven and earth in order to search for a solution.
In episode 21, Heavenly Supreme Lord surrounds God of War with meditation rocks, which send him into a virtual world where he sits at the bottom of a deep well.
HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD:
“Everything in this world has balance in numbers. You cannot force something. You have confusion in your mind, yet you are unable to resolve it. It has pushed you to be trenched deep in the mud, unable to find a way out. You only see what your eyes see, limited by the layout before you. If you observe the sky from within the well, how can you appreciate its vastness? Is the sky only that which you see from within the well? Is the sky that you cannot see not worthy of being considered sky?”
~ Heavenly Supreme Lord is telling God of War to stop being so narrow-mindedly focused on only his lover (the sky within the well), and forget about the welfare of all creatures (the sky outside the well).
GOD OF WAR:
“Even if I, your disciple, am within that well, how could I not know how vast the sky is? The layout may indeed cover my eyes, but it cannot cover the entire sky. I observe the sky within my heart. I have the world in my chest. The sky is the sky. It does not differ whether I am inside or outside of the well. No matter where I am, if I am missing just a little fragment, it is not complete. Dare I ask Respected Master, this incomplete sky, can it still be considered the sky?”
~God of War is emphasizing the fact that if he loses a fragment of the sky (his lover), then he has still failed to protect the sky.
HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD: *Magically carries him out of the virtual well and towards the top of a virtual waterfall.*
“One place, one law. There is order in laws, each order has its principles. All creatures have a yin and yang. If you go against the right path, you will never understand one of them. You should think and weigh the importance. Abandoning all of heaven and earth, just for one drop of falling water, is it worth it?”
HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD: *Magically carries him away to a dusty desert (symbolizing the destruction of all water for a drop)*
“Destroying the world, just for one wrong split-second decision. Since the world is destroyed, how can there still be any falling water? Is that not foolish?”
~ Heavenly Supreme Lord tries to help God of War see how horrible the world will be if he focuses on just the one water droplet.
GOD OF WAR:
“I have never thought of destroying a portion of the world. And I will not allow part of the world to be destroyed because of me.”
HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD:
“This is a deadlock that cannot be resolved. Don't you see?”
GOD OF WAR: - *Tao Te Ching (老子) Religious text “万物负阴而抱阳充气以为和”*
“I do not. I firmly believe that there is a way to resolve this. All creatures have yin and yang. Even if you walk against the right path, they will eventually converge. Yin and yang may contradict, but naturally flow towards harmony. What I am after is that harmony.”
God of War sits on the deontological side of the philosophic trolley problem, stubbornly insistent on “honoring” his value for life by never allowing it to be harmed unjustly. Heavenly Supreme Lord sits on the consequentialist side, adamant that “promoting” the value for life is more important. God of War is focused on minimizing his involvement with death. Heavenly Supreme Lord is focused on maximizing the welfare of lives. After bantering back and forth, God of War decides to have faith that a synthesis is available. Instead of having to sacrifice one trolley track for the other, he wants to find a way to save both trolley tracks. The rest of the drama explores how God of War attempts to resist this fate in a variety of ways, with tragedy on the horizon if he fails.
More reviews: https://transcendentphilos.wixsite.com/website/post/the-philosophy-of-chinese-dramas
Only one man was a witness to the Demon Lord’s last curse, yet this witness was struck with 50,000 years of being crystallized into ice by his injuries during the war. The infant goddess now grown up, no one is aware of the secret curse contained within her body. This witness reclaims his status as God of War, and inadvertently falls in love with this blossoming goddess. Eventually the clues start lining up and every god in heaven believes that she must be executed before the Demon Lord can resurrect and begin his murderous atrocities once again. God of War must decide if collective peace is worth the execution of the woman he loves.
Episode 20 delves into a philosophic debate between God of War and his esteemed master, the Heavenly Supreme Lord. His master, emanating wisdom in his age and visage, exhorts God of War to do the right thing and allow his lover to be executed in order to safeguard the wellbeing of the masses. God of War stubbornly rejects his proposal, anxious to find another way.
Heavenly Supreme Lord tells God of War that he has already meditated on this problem for ages, constantly in spiritual communion with heaven and earth, and has been unable to find another way. God of War, embracing deontology, explains that the goddess is completely innocent and does not deserve such a harsh punishment. Heavenly Supreme Lord, embracing consequentialism, explains that no one wants her to die, it's just that her fate necessitates it – how can we accept the deaths of the majority in order to spare the minority?
God of War rejoins with the fact that if he can’t protect the goddess, how can he have the audacity to protect the masses? Heavenly Supreme Lord replies, “If you knew that the welfare of all living creatures depended upon your death, would you be willing to die for them?” God of War naturally agrees that he is willing to take this heroic action for all creatures. His master then ensnares him with, “If it's okay for you to die for the welfare of all creatures, why can’t she die for the welfare of all creatures??” God of War now unable to respond, Heavenly Supreme Lord helps him enter a meditative state where he too can become connected with heaven and earth in order to search for a solution.
In episode 21, Heavenly Supreme Lord surrounds God of War with meditation rocks, which send him into a virtual world where he sits at the bottom of a deep well.
HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD:
“Everything in this world has balance in numbers. You cannot force something. You have confusion in your mind, yet you are unable to resolve it. It has pushed you to be trenched deep in the mud, unable to find a way out. You only see what your eyes see, limited by the layout before you. If you observe the sky from within the well, how can you appreciate its vastness? Is the sky only that which you see from within the well? Is the sky that you cannot see not worthy of being considered sky?”
~ Heavenly Supreme Lord is telling God of War to stop being so narrow-mindedly focused on only his lover (the sky within the well), and forget about the welfare of all creatures (the sky outside the well).
GOD OF WAR:
“Even if I, your disciple, am within that well, how could I not know how vast the sky is? The layout may indeed cover my eyes, but it cannot cover the entire sky. I observe the sky within my heart. I have the world in my chest. The sky is the sky. It does not differ whether I am inside or outside of the well. No matter where I am, if I am missing just a little fragment, it is not complete. Dare I ask Respected Master, this incomplete sky, can it still be considered the sky?”
~God of War is emphasizing the fact that if he loses a fragment of the sky (his lover), then he has still failed to protect the sky.
HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD: *Magically carries him out of the virtual well and towards the top of a virtual waterfall.*
“One place, one law. There is order in laws, each order has its principles. All creatures have a yin and yang. If you go against the right path, you will never understand one of them. You should think and weigh the importance. Abandoning all of heaven and earth, just for one drop of falling water, is it worth it?”
HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD: *Magically carries him away to a dusty desert (symbolizing the destruction of all water for a drop)*
“Destroying the world, just for one wrong split-second decision. Since the world is destroyed, how can there still be any falling water? Is that not foolish?”
~ Heavenly Supreme Lord tries to help God of War see how horrible the world will be if he focuses on just the one water droplet.
GOD OF WAR:
“I have never thought of destroying a portion of the world. And I will not allow part of the world to be destroyed because of me.”
HEAVENLY SUPREME LORD:
“This is a deadlock that cannot be resolved. Don't you see?”
GOD OF WAR: - *Tao Te Ching (老子) Religious text “万物负阴而抱阳充气以为和”*
“I do not. I firmly believe that there is a way to resolve this. All creatures have yin and yang. Even if you walk against the right path, they will eventually converge. Yin and yang may contradict, but naturally flow towards harmony. What I am after is that harmony.”
God of War sits on the deontological side of the philosophic trolley problem, stubbornly insistent on “honoring” his value for life by never allowing it to be harmed unjustly. Heavenly Supreme Lord sits on the consequentialist side, adamant that “promoting” the value for life is more important. God of War is focused on minimizing his involvement with death. Heavenly Supreme Lord is focused on maximizing the welfare of lives. After bantering back and forth, God of War decides to have faith that a synthesis is available. Instead of having to sacrifice one trolley track for the other, he wants to find a way to save both trolley tracks. The rest of the drama explores how God of War attempts to resist this fate in a variety of ways, with tragedy on the horizon if he fails.
More reviews: https://transcendentphilos.wixsite.com/website/post/the-philosophy-of-chinese-dramas
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