The Battle for Galt’s Gulch: Bioshock as Mass Media Critique of Objectivism

• In Event: In-Depth Analyses of Individual Media Offerings

Abstract

Bioshock represents the most successful video game as philosophical rebuttal in the history of the medium. Bioshock aims it sites at Objectivism, an ultra-libertarian belief system created by author Ayn Rand. The enduring success of Rand’s philosophy owes itself mostly to the success of her novels, The Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged. Bioshock counters these pro-objectivist narratives with a dystopian vision of Rand’s ideas.

Author

• Joseph Packer, Univ of Pittsburgh