Star Wars and Philosophy More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine

by Decker, Kevin S.; Eberl, Jason T.; Irwin, William

• ISBN13: 9780812695830
• ISBN10: 0812695836
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-23
• Publisher: Ingram Book Co

Summary

The Star Wars films continue to revolutionize science fiction, creating new standards for cinematographic excellence, and permeating popular culture around the world. The films feature many complex themes ranging from good versus evil and moral development and corruption to religious faith and pragmatism, forgiveness and redemption, and many others.

The essays in this volume tackle the philosophical questions from these blockbuster films including: Was Anakin predestined to fall to the Dark Side? Are the Jedi truly role models of moral virtue? Why would the citizens and protectors of a democratic Republic allow it to descend into a tyrannical empire? Is Yoda a peaceful Zen master or a great warrior, or both? Why is there both a light and a dark side of the Force? Star Wars and Philosophy ponders the depths of these subjects and asks what it truly means to be mindful of the "living force."

Author Biography

Kevin S. Decker teaches philosophy at Saint Louis University. He's quite clever, you know-for a human being. Jason T. Eberl is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. He can ask for directions to the nearest Starbucks in more than six million forms of communication.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments: Heroes of Rogue Squadron	p. xi
Introduction: The Force Is with You ... but You're Not a Jedi Yet	p. xiii
"May The Force Be with You": The Philosophical Messages of Star Wars	p. 1
"You Cannot Escape Your Destiny" (Or Can You?): Freedom and Predestination in the Skywalker Family	p. 3
Stoicism in the Stars: Yoda, the Emperor, and the Force	p. 16
The Far East of Star Wars	p. 29
Moral Ambiguity in a Black-and-White Universe	p. 39
"Try Not-Do or Do Not": Ethics in a Galaxy Far, Far Away	p. 55
The Aspiring Jedi's Handbook of Virtue	p. 57
"A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy": Star Wars and the Problem of Evil	p. 69
"Be Mindful of the Living Force": Environmental Ethics in Star Wars	p. 80
Send in the Clones: The Ethics of Future Wars	p. 93
"Don't Call Me a Mindless Philosopher!": Alien Technologies and the Metaphysics of The Force	p. 105
A Technological Galaxy: Heidegger and the Philosophy of Technology in Star Wars	p. 107
"If Droids Could Think ...": Droids as Slaves and Persons	p. 120
"Size Matters Not": The Force as the Causal Power of the Jedi	p. 132
The Force Is With Us: Hegel's Philosophy of Spirit Strikes Back at the Empire	p. 144
"There's Always a Bigger Fish": Truth, Faith and a Galactic Society	p. 157
"What Is Thy Bidding, My Master?": Star Wars and the Hegelian Struggle for Recognition	p. 159
By Any Means Necessary: Tyranny, Democracy, Republic, and Empire	p. 168
Humanizing Technology: Flesh and Machine in Aristotle and The Empire Strikes Back	p. 181
"A Certain Point of View": Lying Jedi, Honest Sith, and the Viewers Who Love Them	p. 192
Religious Pragmatism through the Eyes of Luke Skywalker	p. 205
Masters of the Jedi Council	p. 213
The Phantom Index	p. 217
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