Star Wars and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy Series) - Kevin Decker [15]
The Emperor does seem to have several virtues. Like Yoda, the Emperor has a serious mind and the deepest commitment, though his is to the Dark Side. The Emperor is the Master of the Dark Side, and this surely must count as a kind of supremacy. Moreover, in Return of the Jedi the Emperor urges patience on Vader in his search for Luke, a virtue Yoda shares. In these respects, the Emperor and Yoda appear to be similar. How are they really different?
A few scenes later the Emperor says that Luke’s compassion for his father will be his undoing. The Emperor sees compassion as a weakness, not a strength, a vice, not a virtue. The Stoics rejected compassion as irrational. Taking on the “disturbing passion” (pathos) of someone who is miserable makes you miserable too, so it’s foolish to be misery’s company by feeling compassion. Unlike the Emperor, however, the Stoics thought that it’s virtuous to show compassion to others by acting to help them. Doing things to help others is beneficence. Beneficence can be motivated by philanthropy, kindness, or simple recognition of one’s fellow beings as members of the community of rational persons in the cosmos we all inhabit. The ancient Greek Stoics originated this idea of a citizen of the universe or “cosmopolitan.” The Emperor clearly has no such inclusive vision of the subjects populating his Empire.
So while the Emperor is correct, from a Stoic perspective, to reject the feeling of compassion as a weakness, he is wrong to be cruel by failing to show compassion to those he can help. From the Stoic perspective, his logic is twisted. But what twists it? What makes the Dark Side of the Force dark? Why think the Emperor is evil rather than simply eccentric or illogical?
The logic of the Dark Side is glimpsed in the moving conversation between Luke and Vader. Vader wants to turn Luke to the Dark Side, so that he will join Vader and the Emperor. Luke senses the moral conflict within Vader, and wishes to turn his father back to the Light Side. Vader tells Luke “You don’t know the power of the Dark Side.26 I must obey my master.”
The Force is power that can be directed toward good or bad ends. Obi-Wan, Yoda, and all the “good” Jedi use the Force to achieve their goals. Vader and the Emperor do the same. Yoda says that the Force is his ally. Vader, however, is a servant of the Dark Side. Vader is in its power, because he must obey his Master, the Emperor. So the essence of the Dark Side is mastery over others, or tyranny. But the Dark Side limits the masters to only two Sith at a time—the Master and the Servant.
When Vader brings Luke captive to the Emperor, the Emperor says he looks forward to completing Luke’s training as his new master and gloats about the trap he has set for Luke’s friends on the moon of Endor. The Emperor goads Luke by urging him to take his lightsaber:
You want this, don’t you? The hate is swelling in you now. Take your Jedi weapon. Use it. I am unarmed. Strike me down with it. Give in to your anger. With each passing moment you make yourself more my servant.
The Emperor continues to torment Luke, basking in his suffering: “Good. I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon! Strike me down with all your hatred and your journey toward the Dark Side will be complete.” When Luke is fighting Vader, the Emperor is pleased. He congratulates Luke for using his aggressive feelings and letting the hate flow through him: “You, like your father, are now mine.”
So in contrast to the logic of the Light Side, the logic of the Dark Side is this: (1) Anger leads to hatred. (2) Hatred leads to aggression aimed at the mastery of others. (3) Mastery of others is true power. (4) True power is irresistibly desirable. When Luke slashes off Vader’s right hand with his lightsaber, the Emperor applauds Luke: “Your hate has made you powerful.” But Luke refuses to kill Vader, as the Emperor wishes: