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By Root 370 0

may shock you, but there’s an arcane, little-known quotation, one rich in meaning, that appears in every Star Wars movie: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” In each episode of George Lucas’s “space opera,” one of the main characters expresses this basic existential anxiety.1 It’s an intuitive response to an undefined problem. Yet it has its root in the essentially philosophical thought that our relationship to the world is one of questioning. Questions sometimes emerge from wonder, sometimes from doubt. We stare up at the heavens, much as Luke did on Tatooine, and wonder about the extent of the universe, its origin, and its meaning. In a crisis of faith, much as Luke had when confronted by his parentage on Cloud City, we may doubt many of our firmly-held beliefs and preconceptions. We search our inner selves, as did Leia when Han was being lowered into the carbon-freezing chamber, and wonder about what it means to love or be virtuous. Sharing Han’s skeptical worldly point of view, we may doubt that we have any existence as a mind or soul after our bodily processes are nullified by death. We comb through our junkyard, much as Watto constantly does, and wonder whether there are formulas describing the variances of the value character of the products of labor.2

But philosophy doesn’t have a monopoly on wonder or doubt. You could be in a state of wonder reflecting upon the birth of your twin children, or while viewing the new piece of art on your favorite Hutt’s wall. Similarly, you could be in doubt whether the modifications to your podracer are sufficient to allow you to be competitive in the Boonta Eve Race. In these cases, no philosophical questioning needs to occur. Philosophy begins with wonder but leads to thinking. The need to think things through, to change our mind and our environment, arises only because we get into sticky situations. Simple problems disclose their solutions almost immediately, like young Anakin’s uncanny ability to fix machines. More difficult ones require us to search among alternatives for a solution: Should Obi-Wan tell Luke the truth about his father from the start or wait until he matures? Should Qui-Gon use Jedi “mind tricks” on Boss Nass to secure transport from the Gungan city? Philosophical problems are often distinguished by the fact that the problem itself is unclear—we need to settle certain things about the world and ourselves, sometimes at the deepest levels, before we can “blow this thing and go home.”

Now Star Wars doesn’t wear its philosophy on its sleeve—it doesn’t make clever allusions to Alice in Wonderland or the Kabbalah in an effort to jump-start the mind of the average viewer. Although these movies are primarily vehicles for action scenes and fantasy themes, they still involve characters reaching out and deeply within to solve problems that are significantly larger than themselves. In Star Wars, conflict is a constant, but it’s not fighting in the “wars” of the title that spurs the development of the main characters’ personalities—after all, “wars not make one great.” Instead, it’s the struggle to understand and overcome deep problems of identity, truth, freedom, and the tragic side of life that defines the rise, fall, and rise again of the Skywalker family and the impact they have on allies and enemies alike.

Essentially, the Star Wars movies tell a simple story of tragedy, courage, and redemption. But under this simple guise the ageless questions of philosophy—many of which are examined in this book—derive new meaning when held against the background of its plot, colorful situations, and memorable characters. For example:

• Are the virtues good because they are appreciated by the Jedi, or are they appreciated by the Jedi because they are good? (Plato)

• Is Yoda a Jedi Master so great that a greater one can’t be conceived of? (Anselm)

• Can Anakin commit himself as a chaste, unattached Jedi Knight, but just not yet? (Augustine)

• As absolute ruler of a galaxy-wide Empire, is it better to be loved or feared? (Machiavelli)

• Am I a mind, a body, or an overweight