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it grow, and that the energy of the Force surrounds people and binds them, and that it pervades the entire physical world. This description resembles the ancient Stoics’ idea of the “breath” that pervades all objects in the cosmos. This “breath,” composed of the elements air and fire, is the sustaining cause of all bodies, and it controls the growth and development of all living bodies. It holds the cosmos together as the passive principle of all matter. The active principle pervading the cosmos is the “reason” that is one and the same as Nature, fate, providence, and the Greek god Zeus. When Yoda uses the telekinetic power of the Force to lift Luke’s X-wing fighter from the swamp on Dagobah, he uses the power of his mind to move matter. A Jedi master, it seems, while not omnipotent, can use the active power of reason to move passive matter. In this modest way, Jedi who use telekinesis act something like Zeus or providence, as understood by the Stoics. Telekinesis, psychic perception of events that are distant in space and time, and the luminous afterlife of dead Jedi constitute the mystical side of the Force.

The Stoics emphasized that ethics, physics (the study of Nature), and logic (the study of speech, language, and argument) are the three interconnected branches of philosophy. So does Stoic philosophy allow for the mystical? The mystical element of the Force conflicts with the Stoics’ understanding of the physical world. Yoda tells Luke: “Luminous beings are we . . . not this crude matter.” This is confirmed by the scenes that show the deceased Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin as non-physical, yet luminous, visible disembodied spirits. Since the Emperor was a master of the Dark Side, would he too continue to exist as a luminous, disembodied spirit? Or would he be a dark, shadowy disembodied spirit? For the Stoics, these kinds of metaphysical quandaries are ludicrous. The Stoics were physicalists who believed that souls (minds) were just as physical as flesh and blood bodies. They reasoned that since one’s soul causally interacts with one’s body, and one’s body is physical, then one’s soul must be physical too. So the Stoics rejected the notion of non-physical souls (or minds or spirits) that are the “luminous beings” Yoda claims to be the real Luke and Yoda. For the Stoics, a person is destroyed when his body is destroyed, whereas deceased Jedi apparently enjoy an afterlife which allows them to speak with, see, and be seen by, the living.

While the naturalism of Stoicism rules out supernatural, disembodied spirits, the sage’s understanding of Nature is amazingly profound and total. In fact, the Stoic sage has infallible knowledge of what should be done in every situation. The sage takes the right steps at the right times and does them in the right way to accomplish the right goal. But is Yoda a Stoic who acts from reason in every situation? No, Yoda feels the Force guiding his actions and the counsel he gives. Qui-Gon says to Anakin, “Feel, don’t think, use your instincts.” Obi-Wan tells Luke, “Trust your feelings.” So the character traits that make reason possible for a Stoic resemble the traits that make it possible for Jedi like Yoda to feel and harness the Force.

In Star Wars, of course, there is also a Dark Side of the Force. Darth Vader and the Emperor also harness the Force to achieve their goals. How does the Dark Side shape Darth Vader and the Emperor? What makes them evil if Yoda is supposed to be good?

The Logic of the Dark Side

To answer these questions we must reconstruct the logic of the Dark Side of the Force. Here again the contrast between appearance and reality reveals clues. In Qui-Gon’s first meeting with the Jedi Council, Yoda observes: “Hard to see, the Dark Side is.” Is this double entendre intended as a joke or a serious insight? In any case, it well describes how the Emperor appears. His head and face are hidden inside a dark, hooded cloak. Like the Dark Side itself, the Emperor is hard to see and an obvious foil to Yoda. Both Yoda and the Emperor are ascetic devotees of the Force. Both