The philosophy behind True Detective season 1

Rust lives alone, in a bare-bones house that just serves as a place to sleep. Rust describes himself as a pessimist- he does not believe in any kind of objective morality or purpose in life. There is no God, and there are no objective rules.

Rust, however, follows his philosophy adamantly. Through Marty and Rust’s discussions, True Detective presents a number of interesting philosophical concepts and also takes Rust on a journey of belief as his worldviews change.

• Pessimism
• Nihilism
• Existentialist
• anti-natalism
• Hostility towards religious institutions.
• Believes in the idea of Eternal Recurrence

Pessimism is a negative mindset that expects unfavorable outcomes. It's like believing that life has no purpose, similar to nihilism. Pessimism takes this further and claims that progress is an illusion- everything is actually getting worse. 19th century philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, was a well-known pessimist.

Key concepts about pessimism:

• Pessimists tend to focus on the negative aspects of life.
• A common test is the "half empty or half full" glass, where pessimists see it as half empty.
• Pessimism has had an impact on different ways of thinking throughout history.

Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. While few philosophers would claim to be nihilists, nihilism is most often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche.

Existentialism is a philosophy that focuses on the human experience and questions the meaning of existence. Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the key figures in existentialism, believed that even if God exists, life would still lack inherent meaning. This perspective suggests that individuals must create their own meaning in a universe that may seem fundamentally bleak.

Rust embodies these existentialist ideas, emphasizing the belief that life is characterized by suffering and lacks inherent purpose, even in the presence of a higher power.

Besides Rust’s philosophical pessimism, he also holds to a school of thought known as anti-natalism. Anti-natalism is the view;

• that humans should stop procreating, because bringing a human life into the world is ethically wrong (many nihilists create a system of ethics which focuses on reducing suffering in the world.)
• natalists also argue that no one enters the world consensually, but is thrust into the world without having a say in it.

Following his pessimistic outlook to it’s natural conclusion, Rust connects with the anti-natalist view.

Rust is referring to a concept Nietzsche introduced, known as the Eternal Recurrence of the Same. Nietzsche addresses this concept in both The Gay Science and Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

The idea of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same is that, as Rust describes, the universe repeats itself infinitely, over and over again, eternally. Each of our lives has been, is being, and will be lived out again infinitely many times, exactly the same as it did last time.

At the end of the season, after a near death experience, Rust describes having a sort of out-of-body experience where he encountered the love of his dead daughter and father. This experience radically changes Rust’s worldview.

He now seems to be;

• optimist
• a sort of pantheist / God is everywhere
• things are getting better, not worse. (The light wins in the end)
• "Nothing but this love" - he believes that the dead exist in a disembodied way near us. (referring to his daughter and his father).