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前言：游戏剧情设置在一座水下城市，其设计师通过海底火山口的能量来驱动城市，基本实现了水、电、食物、空气等生存必需物资的自给自足。另一位科学家在海蛞蝓的体内提取出了一种奇特的干细胞浓缩液，通过注射可以赋予使用者以近似于魔法的特殊能力。
1.价值等级制度
游戏剧情设置在一座水下城市，其设计师通过海底火山口的能量来驱动城市，基本实现了城市中水、电、食物、空气等生存必需物资的自给自足，其设计者崇尚对于精英的追求，所有居民都需要通过其本人的审查才得以进入。另一位科学家在海蛞蝓的体内提取出了一种奇特的干细胞浓缩液，命名为“亚当物质”，因其特殊的治愈能力而先应用于医学领域，而后在商业化后在社会中迅速扩散开来，通过注射可以赋予使用者以近似于魔法的特殊能力（喷射火焰，释放电击，念力操控物体），而过度使用则会造成使用者基因变异、精神错乱、产生畸形的变异后果。
我们可以注意到，作品中的城市设计者推崇“客观理性”，将其个人对于对称性回报的诉求，放大到整个城市规模从而进行社会实验，在这种排斥义务性利他的社会结构中，等级制特征将会愈发明晰，社会基础的信任结构因此也越发地难以得到建立。追求非契约性质的客观理性诉求，在一定程度上意味着明显的精英主义倾向，然而其理论框架并不足以支撑一个完整的道德体系、以及在此基础上的/可行的社会伦理学架构。
2.精英与魔法
其能量体系的设计也颇具讽刺意味，能量来源于缺乏社会性架构（甚至可能本身不具备性别特征）的海蛞蝓，故事背景也设置在深海之中，城市内部治安失效、资源调配失常，甚至可以说是回到了像原始汤中的状态，每一个独立的个体都仅仅为了自身的生存而疯狂收集资源与物质，
支撑其能量体系的“亚当物质”，可以被视为一种社会资源的特殊形态，普通人使用时则会造成其在某一方面能力较为突出，甚至可以做到非持有者需要借助器械与工具才可以达成的特殊效果。这种能力本身也带有着一定的精英主义、客观主义色彩：
·理性能力被视为个人美德的集中表现，而理性发挥的程度有着个体区分
·创造者与依附者之间存在质的差异，上下分层的社会形态是其“理性”内核的外在政治投射方式
·道德评判基于个人的能力与成就，而非基于苦难或需求等准则
“亚当物质”的影响下，游戏背景中的海底城市销魂城不仅迅速地进行了社会分层，而且还伴随着剧烈的社会分化与混乱。几乎不受管控的自由的市场以及个人主义的热潮、伴随着个体能力的增长以及社会结构的原子化，迅速导致了波及整个城市范围的暴力、垄断、社会失序。同时崇尚个人理性价值、排斥集体主义的理念，使得城市维护所必须的基础劳动缺乏愿意从事的人员，当人们以精英而自我标榜时，忽视了维系社会运作的劳动仍然是社会结构的必要组成部分，而对于利他主义的否定以及对于非对称性回报的排斥，破坏了其普遍的，社会信任的存在，使得游戏中的城市设计者安德鲁·莱恩也不得不依赖于宣传机器、精神控制、独裁镇压等手段来强化契约信任，以维系明显匮乏利他性善意这种大规模社会运转中所必须的基础共识。
3.结语-无意识的劳动者
游戏中科学家布里奇特·泰拉鲍姆创造了一个实验室，通过制造身穿重型潜水服的成年工人、将其改造为失去意识，仅存保护本能的半机械体“大老爹”，以及可以探测并收集亚当物质的小女孩“小妹妹”来对城市进行维护修补，以及对于泛滥成灾，造成群众个体异化的亚当物质进行回收。此两种维系销魂城运作的基础劳动者中，“大老爹”在接受改造后去除了其心智化而沦陷为高效的执行工具，剥夺了其自主思考、道德判断。乃至于自我认知的能力。
如同与后工业时代乃至于数字时代中，大量的劳动者被简化为了可以被替换的零部件或者是执行单元，其往往具备了卓越的技能、体能甚至是意志与执行力，但是作为生产者的他们对于生产目的、产品意义、乃至于自身劳动的最终价值极度缺乏掌控与理解，以此来作为对于劳动者异化/物化的表现。
另一方进行亚当物质采集的“小妹妹”，其具有着儿童的天真无邪，能够识别危险，与外界进行情感交互作用，然而其存在极度脆弱，必须依赖身穿重型潜水服的“大老爹”所提供的保护。在现实中·，另一种劳动者同样拥有着卓越的感知力和局部主动性，然而其所面临的困境是被牢牢束缚在产业链的末梢环节，承受压力和痛苦的同时却无力于影响外在的生产结构，其“弱小”并非主观意愿所能改变，或者是能力不足，而是外在系统设定了其社会身份，系统性剥夺了其与生产资料、决策权和最终成果之间的联系。在作品中表现为虽然“小妹妹”与亚当物质密切相关，可以感知、识别、收集亚当物质，但是其自身却无法使用亚当物质来增进个人能力的种种优点。
大老爹与小妹妹，其实同样能被视为劳动者行动与感知的分离，在销魂城的背景下，社会分工被绝对化，人的完整性一致性被破坏，行动和意义之间的隔离被人为制造，进行城市维护的劳动者既作为无意识的工具，又要作为有意识收集资料的附庸，只是不被允许成为有自主行动力的完整个体。
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以下英文版翻译由ai提供（The following English translation is provided by AI.）
[2026/07/13] Vol. 15 The Primordial Soup of Elites and Capital | BioShock
"I am Andrew Ryan, and I ask you a question: 'Does a man not have the right to the fruit of his own labor?'
'No,' says the man in Washington, 'the fruit belongs to the poor.'
'No,' says the man in the Vatican, 'the fruit belongs to God.'
'No,' says the man in Moscow, 'the fruit belongs to all the people.'
But I reject these answers. I chose a different answer. I chose the impossible. I chose... Rapture."
— From the opening monologue of BioShock, spoken by Andrew Ryan, founder of the underwater city.
Preface: The game's story is set in an underwater city, whose designer harnessed geothermal energy from a submarine volcanic vent to achieve near-self-sufficiency in water, electricity, food, and air. Another scientist extracted a unique stem-cell concentrate from sea slugs, which, when injected, granted users extraordinary abilities akin to magic.
- The Hierarchy of Value The game's narrative takes place in an underwater metropolis. Its architect powered the city via a deep-sea volcanic rift, essentially realizing self-sufficiency in essentials like water, electricity, food, and air. The designer championed the pursuit of elite status—every resident had to pass his personal scrutiny to gain entry. Another scientist isolated a peculiar stem-cell concentrate from sea slugs, naming it "ADAM." Initially applied in medicine for its regenerative properties, it rapidly spread through society after commercialization. Injection granted users near-magical powers (fire-throwing, electrokinesis, telekinesis), but overuse triggered genetic mutation, psychosis, and grotesque deformities. We can observe that the city's architect espoused "objective rationality," scaling his personal demand for symmetrical returns into a city-wide social experiment. In such a social structure that rejects obligatory altruism, hierarchical characteristics become increasingly pronounced, making the establishment of a foundational social trust structure ever more difficult. The pursuit of non-contractual, objective rationality implies a marked elitist tendency to a certain extent. However, its theoretical framework proves insufficient to underpin a complete moral system, nor a viable socio-ethical architecture built upon it.
- Elites and Magic The design of its energy system carries a sharp irony: the energy source is the sea slug—an organism lacking any social structure (and possibly even sex characteristics)—and the setting is deep beneath the ocean. Within the city, public order fails, resource allocation breaks down, and society regresses to a state akin to primordial soup, where each isolated individual frantically hoards resources solely for personal survival. The "ADAM" substance that sustains this energy system can be viewed as a peculiar form of social resource. For ordinary users, it amplifies specific capabilities, even enabling feats normally requiring external tools or machinery. This power itself carries elitist and objectivist overtones:
- Rational capacity is esteemed as the highest expression of personal virtue, yet its manifestation varies across individuals.
- A qualitative gap exists between creators and dependents; the hierarchical social order serves as the political projection of this "rational" core.
- Moral judgment is anchored in personal ability and achievement, not in suffering, need, or other criteria. Under the influence of ADAM, the underwater city of Rapture not only undergoes rapid social stratification but also witnesses intense social fragmentation and chaos. The nearly unregulated free market, coupled with a fervor for individualism and the atomization of social structures—exacerbated by enhanced individual capabilities—quickly spawns violence, monopolies, and widespread disorder across the city. Simultaneously, the creed that champions individual rationality while rejecting collectivism leads to a severe shortage of labor for essential city maintenance. When people pride themselves on being elites, they overlook that the labor sustaining social operations remains an indispensable component of the social fabric. Moreover, the denial of altruism and the rejection of asymmetrical returns erode the universal social trust necessary for large-scale societal functioning. Consequently, even Andrew Ryan, the city's founder, is compelled to resort to propaganda machinery, mind control, and authoritarian repression to enforce contractual trust—compensating for the acute deficit of altruistic goodwill, that fundamental consensus required for mass society.
- Conclusion—The Unconscious Laborer In the game, the scientist Brigid Tenenbaum establishes a laboratory, manufacturing adult workers clad in heavy diving suits, transforming them into mindless, semi-mechanical beings driven solely by protective instincts—the "Big Daddies"—alongside little girls called "Little Sisters," who can detect and collect ADAM. These two groups form the foundational labor force that maintains Rapture and reclaims the rampant ADAM responsible for widespread mutation and alienation. Among them, the "Big Daddy," post-transformation, is stripped of his mentality and reduced to an efficient execution tool, deprived of autonomous thought, moral judgment, and even self-awareness. This mirrors the condition of countless workers in the post-industrial and digital age, who are simplified into replaceable components or execution units. They often possess exceptional skills, physical endurance, willpower, and execution capabilities, yet as producers, they lack control over and understanding of the purpose of production, the meaning of the product, and the ultimate value of their own labor—serving as a vivid depiction of worker alienation and reification. On the other hand, the "Little Sister," tasked with ADAM collection, retains a child's innocence, the ability to recognize danger, and the capacity for emotional interaction. Yet her existence is extremely fragile, relying entirely on the protection provided by the hulking "Big Daddy." In reality, another category of workers possesses keen perception and local initiative, yet finds themselves tightly bound to the peripheral links of the industrial chain. They endure pressure and pain while remaining powerless to influence the larger production structure. Their "weakness" is neither a matter of subjective will nor a deficiency in capability, but rather an externally imposed social identity—systematically severing their connection to the means of production, decision-making authority, and the final fruits of their labor. In the game, this manifests as the "Little Sister" being intimately tied to ADAM—able to sense, identify, and collect it—yet unable to harness its benefits to enhance her own abilities. The "Big Daddy" and "Little Sister" can indeed be seen as the separation of labor's action and perception. Within Rapture's context, social division of labor becomes absolute, human integrity and coherence are shattered, and a manufactured chasm is driven between action and meaning. The city's maintenance workers are simultaneously rendered unconscious tools and conscious data-collecting dependents, yet are never permitted to become fully autonomous, whole individuals.
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