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What is Truth's view of the philosopher's stone? In an episode Father
mentioned that "playing god" was a sin in Truth's eyes. Why doesn't Truth
punish alchemists merely for creating or using a philosopher's stone then?


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2019-03-18T23:09:15.177
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2019-03-19T00:43:48.303
2019-03-19T00:16:39.497
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fullmetal-alchemist-series fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood fullmetal-alchemist-manga
What is Truth's view of the philosopher's stone?


This question does not have a straightforward answer: the only normal
alchemist we ever see making philosopher's stones is Dr. Marcoh, and it does
not look like he has ever actually seen Truth, based on the Q&A "[Wasn't Dr
Marco a sacrifice?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/44987/2604)". It is also
doubtful whether or not the alchemist who created [the artificial humans
towards the end of the series](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/12783/2604)
ever saw the Gate; if he did, the homunculi would have had an additional
candidate for the fifth sacrifice, but they only mention alchemists that the
readers or viewers have already met at that point, none of whom would have
seen the Gate. Similarly, Shou Tucker's experimentation on his wife and
daughter surely should count as a form of human transmutation, but his body
appears to be intact.

My guess would be that "playing God" is mostly at stake in attempted
resurrections of the dead because the alchemist there is trying to reverse
death, which is meant to be impossible. (Some posters in [this Reddit thread
on Shou
Tucker](https://www.reddit.com/r/FullmetalAlchemist/comments/21pr3j/shou_tucker_spoilers/)
argue similarly.) Those other transmutations that one might consider to be
"playing God" might be morally suspect (much much more so than trying to
resurrect a loved one), but they do not transgress the boundaries of life and
death and attempt to reverse the natural flow from life to death in quite the
same way.


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2019-03-19T00:43:48.303
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