Star Wars and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy Series) - Kevin Decker [117]
151
The big exception would appear to be the speech he gives to the Senate in Attack of the Clones, which certainly seems to contradict the facts. I’ll discuss this shortly.
152
Friedrich Nietzsche, “On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense” (1873), in The Portable Nietzsche, edited by Walter Kaufman (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1954), p. 43.
153
Ibid.
154
For the story of Milarepa and Marpa, see http://www.cosmicharmony.com/Av/Milarepa/Milarepa.htm.
155
For further philosophical analysis of Yoda’s character, see Chapter 2 in this volume.
156
See Plato, Protagoras.
157
Nietzsche, op. cit.
158
In other words, hiding it in plain sight. For an interesting exploration of this idea, see Wendy Doniger, The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
159
Lotus Sutra, Chapter 3: “Parable of the House on Fire” http://www.buddhistdoor.com/bdoor/0112/sources/lotus7_p1.htm .
160
Plato, The Republic, Book III, 414d-415d. For more on this subject, see Chapter 14 in this volume.
161
Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, The Power of Myth, PBS (Mystic Fire Video, 1988).
162
For further discussion of the de-humanizing nature of technology depicted in Star Wars, see Chapter 9 in this volume.
163
William Clifford, “The Ethics of Belief,” in Lectures and Essays; reprinted in William L. Rowe and William J. Wainwright, eds., Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, third edition (Harcourt Brace, 1998), pp. 456-461.
164
Ibid., p. 460.
165
Ibid., p. 456.
166
Ibid., p. 460.
167
William James, “Ethical Importance of the Phenomenon of Effort,” in John J. McDermott, ed., The Writings of William James (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 716.
168
The only empirical test I can think of that might be performed is the blood test for “midi-chlorians” that Qui-Gon performs on Anakin in The Phantom Menace; but as far I know, this test is not available to Luke.
169
William James, “The Will to Believe,” reprinted in Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, p. 466.
170
Yoda and the other members of the Jedi Council had the same reluctance to train Anakin. It’s interesting to speculate about James’s attitude towards the justification of Qui-Gon’s faith to take Anakin as his padawan. Initially, it seems that Qui-Gon’s faith is unjustified since Anakin turns to the Dark Side. Nevertheless, it appears that in the end Anakin fulfills the prophecy by killing the Emperor, and thereby restoring balance to the Force. So perhaps Qui-Gon’s faith was justified after all.
171
I wish to thank Kevin Decker and Jason Eberl for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. I would also like to thank Seetha Burtner and C. Joseph Tyson for fruitful discussions about Star Wars and philosophy, as well as my mentor, Professor Charlene Haddock Siegfried, Donald Crosby, Wayne Viney, and William Rowe from whom I learned so much about William James. Additionally, I would like to thank Andrea (Cummings) Gerig who caused me to begin thinking about the ethics of faith “a long time ago.”
Volume 12 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy™
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Star wars and philosophy : more powerful