Filly-sophical musings on Pinkie Pie

As I'd mentioned, I will be sharing my philosophical musings on many of the more prominent figures in Equestria on this medium. To begin, I wish to explore perhaps one of the most complex and perplexing of the six ponies I affectionately refer to as the Knights of Celestia: Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie represents the successful execution of the Existentialist philosophy. While this statement is of course an oxymoron, the generally impossible nature of Pinkie Pie allows her to succeed in the impossible Idealistic goal of overcoming Existential Despair. By continuing to address her own naturally Existential ideals in a manner consistent with Synthetic Idealism, though while still maintaining a philosophy of ultimate meaninglessness, she creates a synthesis of existential angst and ideal purpose. Stated simply, Pinkie Pie pursues secular ideals with a purpose oriented vivacity and joy despite seeing reality as empty and meaningless.
In order to properly perceive this conundrum in its own context, it it necessary to briefly explore the conflicting philosophical systems, and how each relates to Pinkie Pie an an individual. However it is also prudent to acknowledge the primary motivation of philosophical study, which is existence, the act of being or living. Moreover the act of being or living and the study of philosophy can be said to inexorably mutually necessitated. Philosophy has always been about asking questions, and the pursuit of answers. The greatest answer philosophy has pursued is the nature and meaning of our existence, physically, sapiently, and spiritually. This can be seen in many philosophical systems wherein carnal existence, the nature and goal of thought, and the purpose and ultimate goal of the soul are explored in that order, but also in the progress of philosophical thought over the ages. Ultimately both have finished with the exploration of why we exist, what it means, and how to resolve life. The problem with resolving life is that to do so is death... if not physical death, then certainly intellectual death. Many philosophers agree that thought is what gives life meaning, the ability to ask why we exist reflects our sapience, but what would it reflect if we answered that question. The death of question brings an end to thought and then our existence would be truly without meaning. These systems thus both seek to give meaning to life by way of exploring these questions, and in doing so formulate opposing theories.
The term Existential ideals refers to the proposed goal of the Existential system, to give meaning to our own lives while we live them, because there is no inherent meaning in the universe of life. Most philosophical systems seek to pursue meaning beyond our secular existence, but Existentialism proposes that secular existence is the only existence, and that to pursue greater meaning is a futile endeavor, and wasteful in the stead of giving this existence meaning. It can be clearly seen that Pinkie Pie finds meaning only insofar as she identifies herself as a joybringer. Pinkie Pie creates her own meaning in bringing joy to or out of others. When she cannot bring joy, Pinkie reverts to the Existential quandary of how to deal with a reality she finds to be without inherent meaning. Thus, Pinkie Pie would seem to adhere to an Existentialist viewpoint of reality. Additionally, she exemplifies Existential Despair.
For the purposes of this thesis, Purpose can be defined as meaning beyond the secular, or otherwise stated, inherent meaning given to life and reality in order to provide a justification for the struggles in life in the form of some greater purpose. Idealist philosophical systems refer to this Purpose as God, or the highest ideal. By this definition the Existential system asserts that there is no Purpose, only the meaning we give ourselves. We give ourselves this meaning by defining our own reasons for being, thus creating our own identities. This identity is naturally threatened by lack of Purpose. Basically, if there is no greater meaning, there is no security for the meaning that we give ourselves, making that meaning in an of itself potentially meaningless. We can create meaning for ourselves, but not Purpose, and even when we do create that meaning, secular realities can take it away from us. We can see this insofar as Pinkie Pie identifies herself as a joy bringer. Bringing others joy becomes her meaning, and her very identity. Because Pinkie Pie can not force others to experience joy, however, she has no control over her own identity, and it is constantly threatened by the possibility that others will not experience joy as a result of her actions. This never-ending threat is Existential Despair, and is a constant condition in our existence.
Conversely, Synthetic (Hegelian) Idealism is a system which derives Purpose by the examination of conflict. Existence and Identity (Purpose) remain oppositional, however co-exist and allow each other to exist in the same manner that darkness and light define each other by oppositional nature. We know what each is, only insofar as we can perceive the other. These perceptions are what allow us to cognitively examine reality, both ideal and phenomenological (perceptible by the senses), or in plain English, what allow us to philosophize. This system is inherently opposed to Existentialism in that it posits the reality of Purpose as defined above in order to function. Thus, an Existential viewpoint on reality would naturally preclude not only finding, but seeking Purpose to overcome Existential Despair and give a greater meaning to an existence in which the only meaning is the constantly threatened identity we create for ourselves.
Yet Pinkie Pie does find Purpose despite maintaining an Existential worldview. Pinkie Pie seems to accomplish this by using Existential Despair as a motivational tool to pursue a Purpose of bringing happiness to others. We know that making her friends smile is the Existential meaning that Pinkie gives herself. The conundrum is how she makes it into a Purpose. In so much that it does seem not only to give Purpose to her life, but to the lives of Those around her (most notably seen in her connection to the Elements of Harmony), the joy she brings has a greater impact than simply defining who she is. Thus Pinkie Pie uses her own Existential Despair not only to motivate her to give her life meaning as per the Existential approach to a successful existence, but also to give her life Purpose by enhancing the existence of those around her by not allowing that Despair to stop her. In this way she creates Purpose which overcomes Existential Despair by using that Existential Despair to motivate the Purpose, creating a paradox indicative of both the impossibility of successfully executing an Existential philosophy, and of solving the aforementioned unsolvable problem of existence. To explain how in greater terms, would of course require an understanding beyond known cognitive capacity, which is of course why Pinkie Pie remains a paradoxical synthesis of Existentialism and Purpose. The most available explanation is thus, that her connection to her friends allows her to accomplish the impossible, as if it were magical.

If you disagree with my arguments of my thesis, I invite informed or well-motivated rebuttal. The nature of academic philosophy is debate, and if my thesis is flawed, then it is my responsibility to explore alternatives and either correct my arguments or re-consider my position. If you agree, or simply have questions, I am open to further discussion on these arguments as well.

Next time, Applejack.

The above is composed by and (c) Izhane Twilight as Mystic Morning, 2014

References: William S. Sahakian, History of Philosophy: From the Earliest Times to the Present, Barnes & Noble Inc., New York (1968) pp. 187-201, 342-357.
Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy, Washington Square Press, New York (1952).
Diane Collinson & Kathryn Plant, Fifty Major Philosophers, Routledge, New York (2006).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: "Party of One" by Megan McCarthy (2011); "A Friend in Deed" by Amy Keating Rogers (2012); "Pinkie Pride" by Jayson Thiessen (2014). My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Pinkie Pie, and all Episodes are owned by Hasbro and DHX. Mystic Morning belongs to Izhane Twilight.