Star Wars and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy Series) - Kevin Decker [49]
Restoring Balance to the Force
Rolston reminds us that even in a humanist ethic there’s still a sense that individual welfare is inseparable from the good of the whole, “recognizing on a moral level in human affairs the symbiosis in biology.”70 But ultimately, the goal in environmental ethics is to balance the goods of human culture and the goods of the natural world. Achieving balance for humans is actually restoring balance, since it’s out of an intricately balanced natural world that we have evolved. Although distinct human communities and natural communities have developed, they’re not so different that they can’t live in harmony. Restoring balance to the Force, for the Jedi, must mean restoring balance within the entire living community—including cultural and natural worlds. Whether there exists a real or only a metaphorical symbiotic relationship between human communities may be left somewhat unclear in Star Wars. But in either case, restoring the natural symbiotic-like relationship is what the Jedi consistently work toward. It’s evident in all they do: deliberations among the Jedi and between other peoples, diplomatic missions, and sometimes “aggressive negotiations . . . negotiations with a lightsaber.” The Jedi see themselves as part of a greater whole with other living things. When Anakin begins to see himself as more important than the whole, he begins his break with the Jedi way. Conversely, the redemption of both Han Solo and Lando Calrissian comes about when they each begin to see their role in the larger cause of the Rebellion.
The Jedi worldview brings us toward an ethic which includes all living things. But unlike environmental ethics, here the interconnections are not just within ecosystems, but to the one living system of the Force. Ultimately, all living things are unified by the living Force, regardless of place. But an important general view of Jedi philosophy is shared with an environmental ethic, namely, that we should extend our ethical worldview to include all living things. The point of environmental ethics is just this idea of inclusion. Such a view reminds conscious beings of their dependence on the natural world and of the interdependence of all living things. Each individual, as precious as he is, is part of a greater whole. And as it happens, the reward is internal too. For if we’re all part of the living Force, then restoring its balance is also restoring the balance within each of us.71
8
Send In the Clones: The Ethics of Future Wars
RICHARD HANLEY
Clones can think creatively. You’ll find they are immensely superior to droids . . . They are totally obedient, taking any order, without question. We modified their genetic structure to make them less independent than the original host.”
—LAMA SU, Prime Minister of Kamino
It’s called Star Wars, and warfare is definitely a very bad thing, with loss of life, injury, and myriad other kinds of suffering. The toughest kind of ethical question is: When is it okay to do very bad things? When you’re the good guys? Maybe that’s true, but it’s rather unhelpful. When God is on your side? Again, maybe true, but unhelpful. And anyway, isn’t the Force with the bad guys as well, in a big way?
Two critical questions arise for the moral justification of warfare: when is it okay to engage in warfare, and how should you conduct yourself in warfare? It also matters, of course, how you conduct yourself after warfare. But overlooked in the standard approaches to the ethics of warfare is the question of how to recruit and treat your own combatants.
In Attack of the Clones, the Republic faces the prospect of war within its own ranks, as a separatist movement led by Count Dooku assembles a massive droid army. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine engineers a vote to counter the threat with an army of clones which happens to be ready and waiting on