Star Wars and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy Series) - Kevin Decker [11]
Luke’s first impressions of Yoda are of a jester, not a Jedi. Luke fails to see past appearances to the reality of Yoda’s virtues. Yet the virtues that emerge from Yoda’s words and actions reveal him as a Jedi master. Similarly, the virtues of the Stoic wise man are precisely what enable him to be happy no matter what. What specific virtues does Yoda display? When Yoda offers to take Luke to the Jedi master he seeks, Luke insists that it be done immediately. Instead, Yoda suggests that they first eat. When Luke objects, Yoda replies “For the Jedi it is time to eat as well.” Timeliness is a virtue for Yoda. Why is it a virtue? Because just as what one does and how one does it matters, so too when one acts matters. Whereas Luke often doesn’t act appropriately for the moment, Yoda’s acts are timely. Timeliness is a key virtue for a Jedi, as it is for the Stoic wise man.
While Yoda prepares their first meal together, Luke is impatient to be brought to the Jedi master. Yoda urges Luke to have patience—a virtue Yoda has cultivated over centuries. Luke’s impatience turns into frustration and vexation. Disappointed, Yoda addresses Obi-Wan Kenobi’s disembodied presence, “I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience.” It finally dawns on Luke that this weird, elderly goblin is the Jedi master himself. Appearance had blinded Luke to reality.
Yoda criticizes Luke for his inability to focus on his present situation. Yoda says, “All his life has he looked away . . . to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was . . . what he was doing.” Yoda dismisses Luke’s lust for adventure and excitement as things a Jedi does not crave. Yoda is never distracted by frivolous desires for adventure or excitement, nor does he worry about things beyond his control. This too is characteristic of the Stoic, who enjoys equanimity and peace of mind. Yoda focuses on the task at hand and how to act in the present, whether consulting with other Jedi, eating, training Luke, or resting. Focus on the present is another Jedi virtue, and one which is shared by the Stoic.
Yoda cautions the young Anakin that “A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind.” This warning is repeated decades later to Luke. Yoda’s mental seriousness, deep commitment to the lifelong Jedi pursuit of mastering the Force, and rejection of frivolity, however, do not mean that he’s humorless. Yoda indulges his sense of humor in allowing Luke to be blinded by his presumptions about what a Jedi master looks like.
Yoda observes in The Empire Strikes Back that there is much anger in Luke, like there was in his father. Yet Yoda, in contrast, never gets angry. As he says, “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Wiser words are never spoken in all of Star Wars. Later Yoda tells Luke: “Anger . . . fear . . . aggression. The Dark Side of the Force are they.” This is the logic of the Light Side of the Force: (1) Fear leads to anger, then to hate, then to aggression. (2) Aggression leads to the suffering of both aggressor and victim. That Yoda is never seen to suffer implies that he is never fearful, angry, hateful, or aggressive. The Stoic wise man, just like Yoda, lacks the vices of fear, anger, hatred, and aggression. But does rejection of aggression require pacifism? When can a Jedi fight? Yoda says, “A Jedi