CONTENTS

1. Acknowledgments: Legacy of the Force
2. Introduction: “The Circle Is Now Complete”
3. Episode I: The Philosophical Menace
   1. Chapter 1: The Platonic Paradox of Darth Plagueis: How Could a Sith Lord Be Wise?
      1. Respect for the Difference between Knowledge and Wisdom
      2. “Unlimited Power!”
      3. Darth Plagueis the Wise
      4. The Wisdom of Seeking a Life of Great Significance
      5. The Force beyond Light and Dark
      6. Notes
   2. Chapter 2: “You Are Asking Me to Be Rational”: Stoic Philosophy and the Jedi Order
      1. Master of the Stoic Arts
      2. Unlimited Power?
      3. “Fear Is the Path to the Dark Side”
      4. “From My Point of View, the Jedi Are Evil!”
      5. “You Underestimate My Power!”
      6. Notes
   3. Chapter 3: The Jedi Knights of Faith: Anakin, Luke, and Søren (Kierkegaard)
      1. “I Can't Kill My Own Father”
      2. “Mostly Because of My Father, I Guess”
      3. “Something Is Out of Place!”
      4. “I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing”
      5. “I Take Orders from Just One Person: Me!”
      6. “It's a Trap!”
      7. “That's Impossible!”
      8. Bringing Balance to the Force
      9. Notes
   4. Chapter 4: Anakin and Achilles: Scars of Nihilism
      1. “[Not So] Hard to See, the Dark Side Is”
      2. “The Dark Side Is a Pathway to Many Abilities Some Consider to Be Unnatural”
      3. Nihilism – It's a Trap!
      4. “Help Me Take This Mask Off”
      5. Notes
   5. Chapter 5: Dark Times: The End of the Republic and the Beginning of Chinese Philosophy
      1. Heaven's Mandate Is Not Constant
      2. K'Kruhk's Story
      3. Dass Jennir's Story
      4. Kai Hudorra's Story
      5. Notes
4. Episode II: Attack of the Morals
   1. Chapter 6: Chasing Kevin Smith: Was It Immoral for the Rebel Alliance to Destroy Death Star II?
      1. Scum and Villainy: The Anatomy of a Terrorist Act
      2. Innocent Voices Crying Out in Terror: From Madrid to the Death Star
      3. Doubling Their Efforts: Were the Death Star Workers Innocent?
      4. “They're Gonna Bust Up Vader's Hood” … for a Proportionate Reason?
      5. The Good Guys Lens
      6. Notes
   2. Chapter 7: The Ballad of Boba Fett: Mercenary Agency and Amoralism in War
      1. Darker Than the Dark Side
      2. Daddy Issues, Decapitation, and the Family Business
      3. Moral Manager or Moral Mangler?
      4. Mercenary Motivation and Ethical Action
      5. Gray Areas: Fett and Amoralism
      6. Notes
   3. Chapter 8: How Guilty Is Jar Jar Binks?
      1. “Mesa Cause One, Two-y Little Bitty Axadentes”
      2. Oopsies Daisies, Meesa Killed Billions. Whoopsie!
      3. Kant Decide
      4. (In)Sidious Motives
      5. Notes
   4. Chapter 9: “Know the Dark Side”: A Theodicy of the Force
      1. “Now I Shall Show You the True Nature of the Force”
      2. “I Will Be the Most Powerful Jedi Ever!”
      3. “You Were My Brother, Anakin! I Loved You!”
      4. “If the Force Is Life, How Can There Be Life without the Force?”
      5. Notes
5. Episode III: Revenge of the Alliance
   1. Chapter 10: “Like My Father before Me”: Loss and Redemption of Fatherhood in Star Wars
      1. Early Attachment
      2. Failed Detachment
      3. Choosing a Father
      4. Vader's Deformed Fatherhood
      5. Savior by Sacrifice
      6. A Lesson on Love
      7. Notes
   2. Chapter 11: The Friends of a Jedi: Friendship, Family, and Civic Duty in a Galaxy at War
      1. Pals over Politics: Motivations of a Hero
      2. Luke Skywalker and Other Mythic Heroes
      3. Leaving Han Solo in the Freezer
      4. Your Friends or Your Galaxy?
      5. Notes
   3. Chapter 12: Light Side, Dark Side, and Switching Sides: Loyalty and Betrayal in Star Wars
      1. Betrayed by a Droid
      2. The Loyalty of the Sith
      3. Loyal Soldiers of the Empire
      4. The Solo House Divided against Itself
      5. Betrayal at Bespin; or, Why Lando Was Right
      6. “So Be It … Jedi!”
      7. Notes
   4. Chapter 13: Guardians and Tyrants in the Republics of Star Wars and Plato
      1. Dysfunctional Democracy
      2. Tyranus Rex
      3. Guardians of Their Galaxy
      4. Jedi and Present-Day Guardians
      5. Lightsaber-Wielding Philosophers
      6. Notes
6. Episode IV: A New Hermeneutic
   1. Chapter 14: Pregnant Padmé and Slave Leia: Star Wars' Female Role Models
      1. “I Am Not a Committee!”
      2. “The Force Is Strong with This One”
      3. “Aren't You a Little Short for a Stormtrooper?”
      4. “You Have Your Moments – Not Many of Them – but You Do Have Them”
      5. Notes
   2. Chapter 15: Docile Bodies and a Viscous Force: Fear of the Flesh in Return of the Jedi
      1. “Me Chaade su Goodie”
      2. “Oh, I Can't Bear to Watch!”
      3. A “Slimy Piece of Worm-Ridden Filth”
      4. “Soon You Will Learn to Appreciate Me”
      5. Notes
   3. Chapter 16: Of Battle Droids and Zillo Beasts: Moral Status in the Star Wars Galaxy
      1. “Where Are You Taking This … Thing?”
      2. “We Cannot Allow the Destruction of an Innocent Life Form”
      3. “Besides Being the Last of Its Kind, This Creature May Be Intelligent”
      4. “I Applaud Your Moral Stance, Doctor. Principle Is in Short Supply”
      5. Notes
7. Episode V: Metaphysics Strikes Back
   1. Chapter 17: Why the Force Must Have a Dark Side
      1. Evil Sure Seems Pretty Damn Real Here on Alderaan
      2. “Here Goes Nothing”
      3. “I've Got a Very Bad Feeling about This”
      4. Empirical Reality Strikes Back
      5. Bringing Balance to the Force
      6. Notes
   2. Chapter 18: What Is It Like to Be a Jedi? A Life in the Force
      1. “Life Creates It, Makes It Grow”
      2. “You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned”
      3. “You Must Feel the Force Flowing through You”
      4. “A Jedi's Strength Flows from the Force”
      5. “A Certain [Bodily] Point of View”
      6. “The Way of the Force”
      7. “Be Mindful of the Living Force”
      8. Notes
   3. Chapter 19: “Never Tell Me the Odds”: An Inquiry Concerning Jedi Understanding
      1. A Long Time Ago, in a City-State Far, Far Away
      2. Hume Shot First
      3. The Jedi as Scientist
      4. Shut Up, Threepio!
      5. Always in Motion Is the Truth
      6. Notes
8. Episode VI: Return of the Non-Human
   1. Chapter 20: Mindless Philosophers and Overweight Globs of Grease: Are Droids Capable of Thought?
      1. “We Seem to Be Made to Suffer. It's Our Lot in Life”
      2. “Do You Speak Bocce?”
      3. “He's Quite Clever, You Know, for a Human Being”
      4. Dignity for Droids
      5. Notes
   2. Chapter 21: Can Chewie Speak? Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Language
      1. Does “Rrwwwgg” Count as Speaking?
      2. Wrenches and Hydrospanners: Meaning through Use
      3. How to Describe a Disturbance in the Force
      4. Learning the Lingua Galactica
      5. “Let the Wookiee Win”
      6. Notes
   3. Chapter 22: Can the Zillo Beast Strike Back? Cloning, De-extinction, and the Species Problem
      1. How De-extinct Species Strike Back
      2. The Species Problem: Biology's Phantom Menace
      3. If Once a Species Starts Down the Dark Path …
      4. A New Hope for Extinct Species?
      5. Notes
9. Episode VII: The Fandom Awakens
   1. Chapter 23: “In That Time …” in a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Epic Myth-Understandings and Myth-Appropriation in Star Wars
      1. Myth: It's More than Hokey Religions and Ancient Weapons, Han
      2. Joseph Campbell: “Man of the Monomyth”
      3. Lucas's Campbell Soupçon
      4. “Great, Kid! Don't Get Cocky!”
      5. “And You Said It Was Pretty Here!”
      6. A Final Word
      7. Notes
   2. Chapter 24: Star Wars, Emotions, and the Paradox of Fiction
      1. “You Know, I Did Feel Something”
      2. “Be Mindful of Your Thoughts”
      3. “You're Imagining Things”
      4. “Luke, Trust Your Feelings”
      5. “It's Like Something out of a Dream”
      6. “There. You See, Lord Vader. She Can Be Reasonable”
      7. Notes
   3. Chapter 25: The Mind of Blue Snaggletooth: The Intentional Stance, Vintage Star Wars Action Figures, and the Origins of Religion
      1. Introspection in Jabba's Palace
      2. Blue Snaggletooth
      3. Designed for Action
      4. Blue Snaggletooth Says, “A Parsec Is a Unit of Distance, Not Time”
      5. But Action Figures Don't Have Thoughts
      6. Notes
   4. Chapter 26: Gospel, Gossip, and Ghent: How Should We Understand the New Star Wars?
      1. The Mechanics of Canon in the Star Wars Universe
      2. Canon and the Erasure of Ghent
      3. Notes
10. Contributors: Troopers of the 501st Legion
11. Index
12. EULA

Guide

1. Cover
2. Table of Contents
3. 1