First, let's talk about what Egoism is. It is a philosophy put out by Max Stirner. It asserts that a person's self-interest is paramount and all morality exists to erase the self in servitude to a higher being, an authority; be it God, the state, the family, the nation, the abstract idea of community or society. Any ideal, virtue, rule must be smashed so that self can be free. Egoism does not claim you shouldn't care about other people, it says your social relationships should be built on mutual self-interest rather than sacrificing one for the other and asserts that people help others because they are ultimately seeking their interest. (Love, recognition, ease of mind or the happiness and satisfaction of the act of helping). Also note that, self interest here refers someone believing what's best for oneself and there aren't any objective metrics to determine it at any given moment, because that would also be obeying standards that is external to your unique self.
As you can see, Egoism is a philosophy that is huge implications on politics and ethics but the part that interests me right now is the last part, the assertion that people ultimately follow self-interest in free decisions even it is seemingly for other people's benefit. This is one of the central themes of PMMM, as the concept of Magical Girl contracts is built on conflict that arises on this principle, which is deeply explored in three character arcs: Sayaka, Kyoko and Madoka, the main character herself.
At this point, spoilers ahead. Reader discretion is advised.
Sayaka Miki
In Episode 3, we get the setup of our conflict. Mami warns Sayaka that she should be aware of her intentions while making wishes for other people's sake. And we know Sayaka deeply cares about Kyousuke and would really like to see his hand healed. Thus the dark strings of fate starts to slowly ensnare Sayaka.She becomes a Magical Girl, in exchange of healing Kyousuke's hand. She is a girl filled with sense of justice so she really tries to protect people but that isn't why she becomes a Magical Girl, she wants the gratitude and affection of Kyousuke, which she doesn't receive in the slightest. It is important here that Sayaka isn't lying about her commitment to justice but she uses it as an illusion to act like her desires don't exist. Even worse, she comes to believe that these desires are antithetical to her ideals. At first glance, they indeed seem malicious, such as wanting Kyousuke to forever be dependant on her and hating Hitomi for "stealing" his love to the point of almost regretting to save her at Episode 4
Of course none of these truly represent Sayaka's self. Sayaka wants to do what is right but at the same time wants recognition. Healing Kyousuke's hand is both right thing to do and also an act that deserves gratitude. There is nothing wrong with this, self-interest is a deeply human thing. As Sayaka dons a both literal and symbolic cape of justice and an illusion of selflessness, she plunges headlong into destruction of the self, which also happens literally by becoming a Witch, the very thing she stands against for.
Kyoko Sakura
Kyoko is interesting because as a mirror-image of Sayaka, you would expect she can be a good counterpart to her. She gets punished for wishing for other people early in her life, so now she lives with a mentality of only looking after herself. So, she lives according to the theme right?Well, her Hobbesian attitude and self-centeredness is more of a defensive mask against the harshness of the world. One could say, with the conditions at hand, this behavior seeks self-interest and thus, true to Egoism but we learn that that's not the full extent of her character, she has a caring side she tries to repress. This is why, she doesn't actually live true to her unique self and still gets hung up by imposed rules, the rules she internalized by bad experiences, therefore denies herself being thoughtful of other people as a result.
In Episode 9, she comes much closer to living true her unique self when she fights to bringing Sayaka back. Remember, self-interest does not necessarily refer to 'rational' acts. Kyoko likes happy endings, so she fights for them, even if she doesn't prevail in the end.
Madoka Kaname
If we have a character that tries to pursue selflessness and another one that only fakes being selfish, then what would main character be? Being truly selfish, of course. See, Madoka is great precisely because she stays true to her unique self consistently without necessarily being self-centered.Madoka has a unique situation among Magical Girls that she does not have an immediate need or deep-seated desire for something in particular, she is a happy ordinary girl with a nice life. In a Drama CD, we learn that Madoka's wish in the first timeline is to save a cat from a tree (hence the cat from the opening), something that is really silly to waste a wish for but, well, it is something she does without any external restrictions regardless.
Of course, she is not free of dreams or desires. She thinks she is mediocre and is not much help to anyone. (Episode 3) This is why in the first timeline, she dies without regrets because being a Magical Girl and helping people in itself is a good prospect for her. Exactly what Sayaka wants to be but can not. Throughout the show, she struggles finds a good reason to become one after seeing how painful being a Magical Girl is and only comes close to when there is a life-threatning situation. All of her actions comes from her fears, her sadness, her sense of friendship, what she thinks right and wrong without necessarily following an abstract idea of justice. Exactly in the way Kyoko wants to be authentic. Homura's warning of "don't forget who you are" is both ironic and meaningful. Madoka always stays true to her unique self, just not in the way Homura thinks.
With Homura's help, after a very long and hard journey of preserving her 'self', Madoka finally enters a contract, so she can erase the concept of the Witch from the history, resulting in Madoka's ascension, becoming with everyone everywhere. This the most Egoist moment of PMMM, in more ways than one:
- Eliminating the concept of Witch means the "destruction of self" is literally gone for Magical Girls.
- She rejects the rule and authority of the current universe and asserts her unique self instead.
- When she brings her friends back to life, Sayaka dies in a battle, but she doesn't forcefully keep her friend alive. She respects the freedom of people and trusts Sayaka to decide for herself. Madoka becomes the goddess of mutual self-interest.
- Becoming a goddess exactly fulfills her wish. She thinks she is mediocre and she becomes the strongest among all Magical Girls. She wants to be useful and she ends up helping all Magical Girls who ever lived, and the world as a whole by preventing its doom.
- Ironically in the act of erasing Madoka as a literal person and becoming selfless, she becomes the most selfish. Often, what we describe as selflessness is really just removing the contradictions between your desires and your thoughts.
Puelle Magi Stirner Magica
Can we say PMMM is Egoist? Probably not. Standing against authority and morality is very important part of Egoism and "the importance of the self" theme stays mostly at an individual level. Regardless of what you think of Egoism, denial of self-interest is actually a real problem. People might not turn into literal monsters because it, but they can become destructive in the pursuit of selflessness all the same. This is why, even I don't fully agree with it, Madoka Magica will always remind me of Egoism at a certain level.This article is written thanks to my dearest Patrons and special thanks to: Alexandra Morgan, Laura Watson and Spencer Gill.
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