Star Wars and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy Series) - Kevin Decker [69]
When we use the words “cause and effect,” we refer to a specific kind of relationship between two or more objects, but just what do we mean by the word “cause” that makes it apply to both familiar and unfamiliar (sci-fi) cases? And if we can answer this, then we’ll also have an answer to the question of what the difference is between a true cause of an effect and a mere coincidence.
We might say that since causes and effects are part of our scientific vocabulary, then we should look to science to answer this question. After all, who would know more about causes and effects better than the people who deal with them professionally? And surely a scientist can tell the difference between a true cause and a mere coincidence!
While this is a natural response, I should point out that even though scientists talk of cause and effect, the concept of causation itself is a philosophical one. What it means to say that some event caused another event has to be determined before the scientist can employ the term “cause” in any theory; for the meaning of “cause” is not understood as the result of experimental data or any amount of measuring. Rather, since experiments and measurements are means of identifying or understanding the causes of specific phenomena, the term itself must be understood before we can make any measurements or experiments.
How, then, has philosophical analysis helped us understand what the term “cause” means? This very question was addressed by both the Scottish philosopher David Hume and the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz. Indeed, their attempts to analyze the concepts of “causation” and “force” led them to conclude that we cannot possibly possess scientific knowledge of these concepts. The reasons why will take us to the heart of why the Force in Star Wars so thoroughly captivates our imagination; we seem to recognize causes even if we have no way of explaining how they work. But in order to see how we arrive at this startling conclusion, we must begin by looking at what we think causes are and why the Force is a cause.
“Size Matters Not”
The Force is a special power that allows the Jedi to act on parts of the world without being in physical contact with those objects. It allows them to move rocks, spaceships, lightsabers, and droids, apparently by using only the mind. And unlike physical and mechanical forces in our world, the size of the objects moved doesn’t matter; as Yoda puts it, “Size matters not.” These objects, we suppose, wouldn’t behave that way without the Jedi being there and willing them to behave that way. So the Force is part of the cause of these events. But the question remains, “What is a cause?”
When we think of a cause, we usually think of an object or event that produces some kind of change; the cause of Alderaan’s destruction is the Death Star. But causes also explain non-changing states as well; we speak of the cause of one’s health or the cause of the world’s existence. So causes are part of our explanations for why things are the way they are, and why things undergo the changes they do. But what makes some event a case of causation rather than mere chance? There has to be some set of conditions that must be met in order to be a true cause. Here’s where David Hume comes in.
David Hume (1711-1776)97 points out that a true cause has three features: temporal priority—the cause comes before the effect; contact—the cause must be in physical contact with what it effects; and there must be a necessary connection between the cause and effect—some law-like connection or reason why the event we call “the cause” must always produce the event we call “the effect.”
A necessary connection between cause and effect is the kind of connection that would not only rule out coincidence, but would show why the effect must be the result of the cause; so that if we knew everything about the cause, we could deduce with perfect accuracy exactly what the effect would be. For example, if the motion in the cue-ball is