YOU MUST UNLEARN WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED BLACKWELL PHILOSOPHY AND POP CULTURE SERIES This book has not been approved, licensed, or sponsored by any entity or person involved in creating or producing Star Wars products or works. THE ULTIMATE STAR WARS AND PHILOSOPHY TheBlackwellPhilosophyandPopCultureSeries SerieseditorWilliamIrwin Aspoonfulofsugarhelpsthemedicinegodown,andahealthyhelpingofpopularcultureclearsthecobwebs fromKant.Philosophyhashadapublicrelationsproblemforafewcenturiesnow.Thisseriesaimstochange that,showingthatphilosophyisrelevanttoyourlife–andnotjustforansweringthebigquestionslike“Tobeor nottobe?”butforansweringthelittlequestions:“TowatchornottowatchSouthPark?”Thinkingdeeplyabout TV,movies,andmusicdoesn’tmakeyoua“completeidiot.”Infact,itmightmakeyouaphilosopher,someone whobelievestheunexaminedlifeisnotworthlivingandtheunexaminedcartoonisnotworthwatching. Alreadypublishedintheseries: 24andPhilosophy:TheWorldAccordingtoJack TheHungerGamesandPhilosophy:ACritiqueof EditedbyJenniferHartWeed,RichardBrianDavis,and PureTreason RonaldWeed EditedbyGeorgeDunnandNicolasMichaud 30RockandPhilosophy:WeWanttoGotoThere InceptionandPhilosophy:BecauseIt’sNeverJusta EditedbyJ.JeremyWisnewski Dream AliceinWonderlandandPhilosophy:Curiouserand EditedbyDavidJohnson Curiouser IronManandPhilosophy:FacingtheStarkReality EditedbyRichardBrianDavis EditedbyMarkD.White ArrestedDevelopmentandPhilosophy:They’ve LostandPhilosophy:TheIslandHasItsReasons MadeaHugeMistake EditedbySharonM.Kaye EditedbyKristopherPhillipsandJ.JeremyWisnewski MadMenandPhilosophy:NothingIsasItSeems AvatarandPhilosophy:LearningtoSee EditedbyJamesSouthandRodCarveth EditedbyGeorgeA.Dunn MetallicaandPhilosophy:ACrashCourseinBrain TheAvengersandPhilosophy:Earth’sMightiest Surgery Thinkers EditedbyWilliamIrwin EditedbyMarkD.White TheOfficeandPhilosophy:Scenesfromthe BatmanandPhilosophy:TheDarkKnightoftheSoul UnfinishedLife EditedbyMarkD.WhiteandRobertArp EditedbyJ.JeremyWisnewski BattlestarGalacticaandPhilosophy:Knowledge SonsofAnarchyandPhilosophy:BrainsBefore HereBeginsOutThere Bullets EditedbyJasonT.Eberl EditedbyGeorgeA.DunnandJasonT.Eberl TheBigBangTheoryandPhilosophy:Rock,Paper, SouthParkandPhilosophy:YouKnow,ILearned Scissors,Aristotle,Locke SomethingToday EditedbyDeanKowalski EditedbyRobertArp TheBigLebowskiandPhilosophy:KeepingYour Spider-ManandPhilosophy:TheWebofInquiry MindLimberwithAbidingWisdom EditedbyJonathanSanford EditedbyPeterS.Fosl SupermanandPhilosophy:WhatWouldtheManof BioShockandPhilosophy:IrrationalGame,Rational SteelDo? 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EverythingIsFire EditedbyRobertArpandKevinS.Decker EditedbyEricBronson TheUltimateStarWarsandPhilosophy:YouMust GreenLanternandPhilosophy:NoEvilShallEscape UnlearnWhatYouHaveLearned ThisBook EditedbyJasonT.EberlandKevinS.Decker EditedbyJaneDrydenandMarkD.White VeronicaMarsandPhilosophy HeroesandPhilosophy:BuytheBook,Savethe EditedbyGeorgeA.Dunn World TheWalkingDeadandPhilosophy:Shotgun. EditedbyDavidKyleJohnson Machete.Reason. TheHobbitandPhilosophy:ForWhenYou’veLost EditedbyChristopherRobichaud YourDwarves,YourWizard,andYourWay WatchmenandPhilosophy:ARorschachTest EditedbyGregoryBasshamandEricBronson EditedbyMarkD.White HouseandPhilosophy:EverybodyLies X-MenandPhilosophy:AstonishingInsightand EditedbyHenryJacoby UncannyArgumentintheMutantX-Verse EditedbyRebeccaHouselandJ.JeremyWisnewski THE ULTIMATE STAR WARS AND PHILOSOPHY YOU MUST UNLEARN WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED Edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker Thiseditionfirstpublished2016 ©2016JohnWiley&SonsLtd RegisteredOffice JohnWiley&SonsLtd,TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,PO198SQ,UK EditorialOffices 350MainStreet,Malden,MA02148-5020,USA 9600GarsingtonRoad,Oxford,OX42DQ,UK TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,PO198SQ,UK Fordetailsofourglobaleditorialoffices,forcustomerservices,andforinformationabouthow toapplyforpermissiontoreusethecopyrightmaterialinthisbookpleaseseeourwebsiteat www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. TherightofJasonT.EberlandKevinS.Deckertobeidentifiedastheauthorsoftheeditorial materialinthisworkhasbeenassertedinaccordancewiththeUKCopyright,Designsand PatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem, ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingor otherwise,exceptaspermittedbytheUKCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,withoutthe priorpermissionofthepublisher. Wileyalsopublishesitsbooksinavarietyofelectronicformats.Somecontentthatappearsin printmaynotbeavailableinelectronicbooks. Designationsusedbycompaniestodistinguishtheirproductsareoftenclaimedastrademarks. Allbrandnamesandproductnamesusedinthisbookaretradenames,servicemarks, trademarksorregisteredtrademarksoftheirrespectiveowners.Thepublisherisnotassociated withanyproductorvendormentionedinthisbook. LimitofLiability/DisclaimerofWarranty:Whilethepublisherandauthorshaveusedtheirbest effortsinpreparingthisbook,theymakenorepresentationsorwarrantieswithrespecttothe accuracyorcompletenessofthecontentsofthisbookandspecificallydisclaimanyimplied warrantiesofmerchantabilityorfitnessforaparticularpurpose.Itissoldontheunderstanding thatthepublisherisnotengagedinrenderingprofessionalservicesandneitherthepublishernor theauthorshallbeliablefordamagesarisingherefrom.Ifprofessionaladviceorotherexpert assistanceisrequired,theservicesofacompetentprofessionalshouldbesought. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData TheultimateStarWarsandphilosophy:youmustunlearnwhatyouhavelearned/Editedby JasonT.EberlandKevinS.Decker. pagescm–(Blackwellphilosophyandpopcultureseries) Includesindex. ISBN978-1-119-03806-1(pbk.) 1.StarWarsfilms. 2.Philosophyinmotionpictures. 3.Philosophyinliterature. I.Eberl, JasonT.,editor. II.Decker,KevinS.,editor. III.Series:Blackwellphilosophyandpopculture series. PN1995.9.S695U462015 791.43′75–dc23 2015012933 AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. Setin10.5/13ptSabonLTStdbyAptaraInc.,NewDelhi,India 1 2016 Contents From the Journal of the Whills ... Acknowledgments:LegacyoftheForce ix Introduction:“TheCircleIsNowComplete” 1 I ThePhilosophicalMenace 5 1 ThePlatonicParadoxofDarthPlagueis:HowCoulda SithLordBeWise? 7 TerranceMacMullan 2 “YouAreAskingMetoBeRational”:StoicPhilosophy andtheJediOrder 20 MattHummel 3 TheJediKnightsofFaith:Anakin,Luke,andSøren (Kierkegaard) 31 WilliamA.Lindenmuth 4 AnakinandAchilles:ScarsofNihilism 42 DonAdams 5 DarkTimes:TheEndoftheRepublicandtheBeginningof ChinesePhilosophy 53 KevinS.Decker v vi CONTENTS II AttackoftheMorals 65 6 ChasingKevinSmith:WasItImmoralfortheRebel AlliancetoDestroyDeathStarII? 67 CharlesC.Camosy 7 TheBalladofBobaFett:MercenaryAgencyand AmoralisminWar 79 DavidLaRocca 8 HowGuiltyIsJarJarBinks? 90 NicolasMichaud 9 “KnowtheDarkSide”:ATheodicyoftheForce 100 JasonT.Eberl III RevengeoftheAlliance 115 10 “LikeMyFatherbeforeMe”:LossandRedemptionof FatherhoodinStarWars 117 CharlesTaliaferroandAnnikaBeck 11 TheFriendsofaJedi:Friendship,Family,andCivicDuty inaGalaxyatWar 127 GregLittmann 12 LightSide,DarkSide,andSwitchingSides:Loyaltyand BetrayalinStarWars 136 DanielMalloy 13 GuardiansandTyrantsintheRepublicsofStarWarsand Plato 148 AdamBarkmanandKyleAlkema IV ANewHermeneutic 159 14 PregnantPadme´ andSlaveLeia:StarWars’Female RoleModels 161 ColeBowman 15 DocileBodiesandaViscousForce:FearoftheFleshin ReturnoftheJedi 172 JenniferL.McMahon CONTENTS vii 16 OfBattleDroidsandZilloBeasts:MoralStatusintheStar WarsGalaxy 183 JamesM.Okapal V MetaphysicsStrikesBack 193 17 WhytheForceMustHaveaDarkSide 195 GeorgeA.Dunn 18 WhatIsItLiketoBeaJedi?ALifeintheForce 208 MarekMcGann 19 “NeverTellMetheOdds”:AnInquiryConcerningJedi Understanding 219 AndrewZimmermanJones VI ReturnoftheNon-Human 229 20 MindlessPhilosophersandOverweightGlobsofGrease: AreDroidsCapableofThought? 231 DanBurkett 21 CanChewieSpeak?WittgensteinandthePhilosophyof Language 240 RhiannonGrantandMyfanwyReynolds 22 CantheZilloBeastStrikeBack?Cloning,De-extinction, andtheSpeciesProblem 250 LeonardFinkelman VII TheFandomAwakens 261 23 “InThatTime ... ”inaGalaxyFar,FarAway:Epic Myth-UnderstandingsandMyth-AppropriationinStar Wars 263 JohnThompson 24 StarWars,Emotions,andtheParadoxofFiction 274 LanceBelluomini viii CONTENTS 25 TheMindofBlueSnaggletooth:TheIntentionalStance, VintageStarWarsActionFigures,andtheOriginsof Religion 287 DennisKnepp 26 Gospel,Gossip,andGhent:HowShouldWeUnderstand theNewStarWars? 296 RoyT.CookandNathanKellen Contributors:Troopersofthe501stLegion 308 Index 317
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