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Yoda and Obi-Wan lack good evidence that Luke can become a Jedi and vanquish the Emperor and Vader. In fact, they have good reason to doubt Luke’s success because of Anakin’s failure. Like Anakin, Luke is “too old to begin the training,” lacks patience, and has “much anger in him.” Clifford would agree with Yoda’s initial reluctance to train Luke.170 James, however, would recognize the potential for a great good that could come from doing so. And as we all know, James’s pragmatic faith wins out in the end.

A better example of pragmatic thinking from our own galaxy can be found in Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In spite of a lack of truth-conducive evidence and in opposition to the prevailing social conservatism, Reverend King chose to believe that his dream of whites and blacks standing hand in hand as equals could become a real possibility. Although the struggle is not yet complete, his dream seems to be coming true in twenty-first-century America, and this could not have happened without his faith and the faith of others like him. Because of this faith, we are in a better world today. The example of Reverend King demonstrates how faith can allow us to find a good and a truth outside of ourselves and give us all “a new hope.” 171

Masters of the Jedi Council

JEROLD J. ABRAMS is Director of the Program in Health Administration and Policy, and Assistant Professor of Business Ethics at Creighton University. He has published several essays on semiotics, ethics, and continental philosophy. It’s true that he’s getting older, and his skin is getting greener. But when nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not. Hm?

ROBERT ARP received a Ph.D. in philosophy from Saint Louis University. He has published articles in philosophy of mind, ancient philosophy, modern philosophy, phenomenology, and philosophy of religion. He’s calculated that his chances of successfully making any money doing philosophy are approximately 3,720 to one against.

JUDY BARAD is Professor of Philosophy at Indiana State University. She has published several books, including The Ethics of Star Trek, and is currently completing Michael Moore: The American Socrates. In addition to teaching courses in ancient and medieval philosophy, she teaches a course on philosophy and Star Trek. She uses both mind melding and Jedi mind tricks to move back and forth between the Star Trek and Star Wars worlds.

CHRISTOPHER M. BROWN is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tennessee at Martin. He has published in metaphysics and medieval philosophy and teaches courses in metaphysics, ethics, the philosophy of religion, and the history of philosophy. Inspired by Obi-Wan Kenobi, and fearing that Western civilization as we know it is soon coming to an end, he has found a safe place in northwest Tennessee to hide out with his family until “a new hope” arises.

BRIAN K. CAMERON teaches philosophy and other Jedi mind tricks at Saint Louis University. For a living, he bets on podraces, builds droids in his spare time, and engages in blind conformity.

ELIZABETH F. COOKE is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Creighton University. She has published several articles in applied ethics and American philosophy, particularly on Charles S. Peirce and Richard Rorty. She currently trains with the Rebel forces to fight the Evil Empire, although she knows that if they strike her down she will become more powerful than they can possibly imagine.

KEVIN S. DECKER teaches philosophy at Saint Louis University and Webster University. He writes on American philosophy, ethics, and social and political thought, and is active in progressive politics. These days, he’s got a bad feeling about this.

RICHARD DEES is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Rochester, with secondary appointments in neurology and medical humanities. He writes on political philosophy and has just published a book on the social and conceptual