















"No one is accountable for existing at all, or for being constituted as he is, or for living in the circumstances and surroundings in which he lives. The fatality of his nature cannot be disentangled from the fatality of all that which has been and will be. He is not the result of a special design, a will, a purpose; he is not the subject of an attempt to attain an ‘ideal of man’ or an ‘ideal of happiness’ or an ‘ideal of morality’—it is absurd to want to hand over his nature to some purpose or other.” – Friedrich Nietzsche



“Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. We’re all gonna die.” – Morty Smith, Rick and Morty





Rick and Morty, undoubtedly one of the most popular shows on [adult swim], is a trove of pessimistic philosophy that cuts through its dark comedy in swaths of smart, if depressing, callbacks to exactly this. Existential nihilism isn’t something one expects to find rife in an animated sitcom about an ordinary family dealing with its unusual, dimension-hopping scientist figurehead. But Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon’sundoubtedly one of the most popular shows on [adult swim], is a trove of pessimistic philosophy that cuts through its dark comedy in swaths of smart, if depressing, callbacks to exactly this.





Rick and Morty uniquely takes such views and, somehow, makes them beautiful within the webs of its chaotic two seasons (a third is currently in development, with a season premiere possibly confirmed for late this year). Essentially, the tenets of existential nihilism can be boiled down to the quotes at the beginning of this article. Life, says the existential nihilist, has no inherent significance. There is no purpose to our suffering as human beings, and there is no ultimate Meaning of Life to be sought after, much less found. A bleak outlook, to be sure – butuniquely takes such views and, somehow, makes them beautiful within the webs of its chaotic two seasons (a third is currently in development, with a season premiere possibly confirmed for late this year).





Fourteen-year-old Morty Smith is a typical American teenager, not particularly intelligent or special, who is co-opted into inter-dimensional adventures with his grandfather, Rick Sanchez. Rick is jaded, an elderly scientist and pragmatist who has literally seen and done everything he has ever desired and now finds that the more he travels between dimensions and through our own and alternate universes, the less thrilling he finds reality. For Rick, there is no sense of wonder. There is no vastness to the experience of living – he sees that there are infinite possibilities and infinite versions of himself, and therefore sees no point in attempting to find value in his own life. Morty, beginning the series as a wide-eyed and terrified kid surrounded by things he cannot comprehend, is presented as a possible key to Rick’s deeply hidden humanity and hopes – but as the series progresses, the messages of nihilism and emptiness become more and more prominent. Even Morty’s youthful idealism is no match for Rick’s deadpan, matter-of-fact harshness.















Rick and Morty posits the importance of small things. It suggests that there is a glimmer of hope, even for a character like Rick Sanchez. And yet….posits the importance of small things. It suggests that there is a glimmer of hope, even for a character like Rick Sanchez.





It can be argued that the reason most people want to accept that life has meaning is because they want to assert that their deaths will have meaning; that there must be a reason to live and struggle, so that when they have died there can be said to have been some kind of importance in their having existed. A reason for everything that has happened to them. A purpose.





himself as an individual is one and the same with an infinite number of other entities known as “Rick Sanchez”, despairs at finding meaning in the life he’s living in his own dimension – and so he sees no meaning in his eventual death, either. If he dies in one version of reality, another version of himself can simply step in and take over where the deceased left off, the rest of the world none the wiser for it. Rick finds no meaning even in his own death, then, because he recognizes that, within infinite universes, he dies somewhere every single minute of every single day. But Rick, having long ago realized that the entity consideredis one and the same with an infinite number of other entities known as “Rick Sanchez”, despairs at finding meaning in the life he’s living in his own dimension – and so he sees no meaning in his eventual death, either. If he dies in one version of reality, another version of himself can simply step in and take over where the deceased left off, the rest of the world none the wiser for it. Rick finds no meaning even in his own death, then, because he recognizes that, within infinite universes, he dies somewhere every single minute of every single day.





“For man to be able to live he must either not see the infinite, or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite.” – Leo Tolstoy



