Han exercises his freedom of choice most assertively when he decides to take his reward for rescuing Princess Leia and leave the Rebel Alliance behind instead of helping them destroy the Death Star. Luke confronts him, but Han’s will to leave is strong and he simply gives Luke a half-hearted “May the Force be with you.” Luke’s less naïve sister, Leia, is equally disappointed with Han’s decision, but understands that there’s nothing they can do to stop him: “He’s got to follow his own path. No one can choose it for him.” We know, of course, that Han eventually changes his mind and chooses to come to Luke’s rescue at the last instant, freeing him to use the Force to destroy the Death Star.
Han, unlike Anakin and Luke, appears to have alternative possibilities in determining his own future, which most libertarian philosophers take to be fundamental to the definition of “freedom.” Enlightenment-era philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), however, notes that freedom may not require having alternative possibilities:Suppose a Man be carried, whilst fast asleep, into a Room, where is a Person he longs to see and speak with; and be there locked fast in, beyond his Power to get out: he awakes, and is glad to find himself in so desirable Company, which he stays willingly in, i.e. prefers his stay to going away. I ask, Is not this stay voluntary? I think, no Body will doubt it: and yet being locked fast in, ’tis evident he is not at liberty not to stay, he has not freedom to be gone.11
What makes the person in Locke’s story free, despite having no alternative to staying in the locked room, is that he desires to be there. He perceives the pleasurable company he’s in and desires to stay in that pleasurable company. So long as he desires to stay in the room, his remaining there is freely chosen, so says Locke. If, however, he decides to leave the room and finds the door locked, then his remaining in the room has been forced upon him against his will to leave and he’s thereby not free. Freedom, then, may ultimately depend upon a person’s will—whether he desires to do one action or another, whether he desires to do good or evil—and his ability to do whatever he wills.
In demonstrating why human beings act freely when they commit evil, and aren’t caused to do so by God’s will or eternal foreknowledge, Augustine contends that desire is the foundation of all evil that results from a person’s disordered will: “Each evil man is the cause of his own evildoing.”12 Augustine describes a person as having an “inordinate desire” when he focuses too much on “temporal” things. Good persons live by “turning their love away from those things which cannot be possessed without the risk of losing them.” While evil persons “try to remove obstacles so that they may safely rest in their enjoyment of these things, and so live a life full of evil and crime, which would be better named death.”13 This description certainly fits Anakin, who is unable to turn his love away from his mother and from Padmé, both of whom he loses. When he expresses his frustration at being unable to save his mother from the Sand People, he vows to become “the most powerful Jedi ever” and to “learn to stop people from dying.” George Lucas, the man who knows the most about Anakin’s psychology, notes:The problem that Anakin has in this whole thing is he has a hard time letting go of things. As he sought more and more power to try to change people’s fate so that they’re the way he wants them, that greed goes from trying to save the one you love to realizing you can control the universe.14
It is Anakin’s desire to control things that are ultimately outside of his control, in defiance of the natural order of the universe established by the will of the Force, which leads to his moral downfall. And this desire stems from Anakin himself: “What each man chooses to pursue and to love lies in his own will.”15 On this view, it doesn’t matter whether Anakin has the possibility to act as he wills. Even if something prevents Anakin from, say, marrying Padmé on Naboo—imagine that their ship blows up on the way there—he has already freely willed to violate the Jedi Code and is morally responsible for that volition. So, despite the appearance that Anakin has no alternative possibilities with regards to being the Chosen One and destroying the Emperor, he’s nonetheless free in his choosing to ally himself with the Dark Side, because that choice stems from his own will, his own inordinate desires.
“This One a Long Time Have I Watched”
Luke, like his father, carries the burden of future expectation on his shoulders. While Anakin is the child of prophecy, Luke is both the new and last hope for restoring freedom to the galaxy. But to restore galactic freedom, Luke must first exercise his individual freedom. As he discovers in the cave on Dagobah, Luke has the same potential to allow inordinate desire to control his will and turn him to the Dark Side. Both Vader and the Emperor attempt to tap into Luke’s desire to destroy, and each try to turn that desire to their own advantage. But, ultimately, only Luke can give into that inordinate desire; only he can turn his own will to the Dark Side: “After all, what cause of the will could there be, except the will itself?”16
And while both Yoda and Obi-Wan have put great faith in Luke from the time he was born, even they can only watch Luke’s life unfold and help train him as a Jedi. Despite their good intentions, neither has the power to bend Luke’s will, as we see in The Empire Strikes Back when they plead with him not to leave Dagobah before his training is completed. Luke is much like his father, as he’s inclined to allow inordinate desire to control his will. But he’s also like Han Solo, because he’s not wholly subject to the will of the Force. When he asks Obi-Wan if the Force “controls your actions,” Obi-Wan responds, “Partially, but it also obeys your commands.” In a deleted scene from Attack of the Clones, Mace Windu counsels Obi-Wan regarding Anakin, “You must have faith that he will take the right path.” Anakin has control over his own destiny and even the Jedi Masters are powerless to prevent what he wills. Unfortunately, Anakin doesn’t take the right path, but his son does despite similar obstacles.
In our own lives it’s important to ask which “forces” are attempting to bend our will. What desires have the potential to become “inordinate” and be allowed to take over our will? And we must also be conscious of the control we have over our own will and desires. Even if there’s an eternal observer keeping watch over us or a puppetmaster pulling the universe’s strings around us, we can pull our own strings and thereby determine what the eternal observer knows and limit what the puppetmaster can accomplish. We are radically free and thus responsible for what we choose to will. And since my wife is still out with “the girls,” I think I’ll exercise my radical freedom to watch Attack of the Clones and wake up the neighbors, comfortable in the knowledge that Que sera, sera . . . Whatever will be, will be.17
2
Stoicism in the Stars: Yoda, the Emperor, and the Force
WILLIAM O. STEPHENS
Stoicism is the ancient Greek philosophy that originated in the third century B.C.E. in the “Stoa” or porch where Zeno of Citium taught in Athens. Stoicism counsels acting virtuously and without emotional disturbance while living in harmony with fate. But why care about Stoicism today? For one thing, Zeno’s followers, the Stoics, exerted enormous influence on Roman culture, Christianity, and Western philosophy for centuries. Today, Stoicism continues to receive a lot of attention from philosophers, 18 novelists,19 soldier-politicians,20 and psychologists.21 This is because Stoic ideas provide an effective strategy for addressing conflicts and kinds of adversity faced in the real world. Star Wars fans too can benefit from some Stoicism.
Understanding the Force is key to understanding the Star Wars universe since how the Force is conceived, used, or ignored by the characters goes a long way to determining their identities, allegiances, and goals. What is it that makes the Force and the discipline necessary to master it so compelling to figures like Luke, Yoda, and the Emperor? Stoicism helps reveal both the logic of the Light Side of the Force and the logic of the Dark Side. How Yoda and the Emperor understand the Force radically shapes their moral characters and drives their actions. A brief study of Stoicism will allow us to understand why Yoda and the Emperor can each be so devoted t
o contrary sides of the Force.
Appearance versus Reality: Jester or Jedi Master?
When Luke and Artoo arrive on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back, Luke instinctively brandishes his blaster when they are startled by an unthreatening, wizened, olive-skinned dwarf clad in rags. “Away put your weapon! I mean you no harm,” the cringing dwarf pleads. With his quirky sense of humor, Yoda remarks that Luke has found someone, though Luke doesn’t realize he has found the very Jedi master he is looking for. But while this puny goblin assures Luke he can help him, Luke doubts him. Luke explains that he is looking for a great warrior. Laughing, Yoda responds: “Wars not make one great.” This remark is ironic since “yoda” is Sanskrit for “warrior.” Yoda certainly looks nothing like a great warrior.
Yoda then acts like a silly beggar. He finds, nibbles on, and discards an untasty snack bar in Luke’s supplies. When he fights over a tiny power lamp with Artoo, Yoda looks even sillier. Luke is impatient to find the Jedi master, but the goofy goblin wants to eat first. So our first impression of Yoda is of a solitary, harmless, vulnerable, shabby, hungry geezer with a quirky sense of humor and an odd manner of speech. Yoda’s appearance inspires no awe at all.
Contrast this image with the first appearance of Darth Vader in A New Hope and the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. Moments after the first wave of stormtroopers, all clad in white armor, have blasted their way onto Princess Leia’s ship, a tall, dominating figure in a face-concealing helmet, cape, and armor, all in black, strides confidently amidst the victorious stormtroopers. He issues commands in a deep, rasping, mechanical, monotone voice. Vader appears menacing, invulnerable, and powerful, surrounded by his minions, who instantly obey his every command. This dark, imposing man-machine inspires awe. He is obviously a great warrior and a very powerful leader. As the saga unfolds we discover that this great warrior obeys an even more powerful master. Massed ranks of Imperial officers and stormtroopers honor the arrival of the almighty Emperor on the second Death Star when he first appears in the flesh.22
Luke’s first impressions of Yoda are of a jester, not a Jedi. Luke fails to see past appearances to the reality of Yoda’s virtues. Yet the virtues that emerge from Yoda’s words and actions reveal him as a Jedi master. Similarly, the virtues of the Stoic wise man are precisely what enable him to be happy no matter what. What specific virtues does Yoda display? When Yoda offers to take Luke to the Jedi master he seeks, Luke insists that it be done immediately. Instead, Yoda suggests that they first eat. When Luke objects, Yoda replies “For the Jedi it is time to eat as well.” Timeliness is a virtue for Yoda. Why is it a virtue? Because just as what one does and how one does it matters, so too when one acts matters. Whereas Luke often doesn’t act appropriately for the moment, Yoda’s acts are timely. Timeliness is a key virtue for a Jedi, as it is for the Stoic wise man.
While Yoda prepares their first meal together, Luke is impatient to be brought to the Jedi master. Yoda urges Luke to have patience—a virtue Yoda has cultivated over centuries. Luke’s impatience turns into frustration and vexation. Disappointed, Yoda addresses Obi-Wan Kenobi’s disembodied presence, “I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience.” It finally dawns on Luke that this weird, elderly goblin is the Jedi master himself. Appearance had blinded Luke to reality.
Yoda criticizes Luke for his inability to focus on his present situation. Yoda says, “All his life has he looked away . . . to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was . . . what he was doing.” Yoda dismisses Luke’s lust for adventure and excitement as things a Jedi does not crave. Yoda is never distracted by frivolous desires for adventure or excitement, nor does he worry about things beyond his control. This too is characteristic of the Stoic, who enjoys equanimity and peace of mind. Yoda focuses on the task at hand and how to act in the present, whether consulting with other Jedi, eating, training Luke, or resting. Focus on the present is another Jedi virtue, and one which is shared by the Stoic.
Yoda cautions the young Anakin that “A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind.” This warning is repeated decades later to Luke. Yoda’s mental seriousness, deep commitment to the lifelong Jedi pursuit of mastering the Force, and rejection of frivolity, however, do not mean that he’s humorless. Yoda indulges his sense of humor in allowing Luke to be blinded by his presumptions about what a Jedi master looks like.
Yoda observes in The Empire Strikes Back that there is much anger in Luke, like there was in his father. Yet Yoda, in contrast, never gets angry. As he says, “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Wiser words are never spoken in all of Star Wars. Later Yoda tells Luke: “Anger . . . fear . . . aggression. The Dark Side of the Force are they.” This is the logic of the Light Side of the Force: (1) Fear leads to anger, then to hate, then to aggression. (2) Aggression leads to the suffering of both aggressor and victim. That Yoda is never seen to suffer implies that he is never fearful, angry, hateful, or aggressive. The Stoic wise man, just like Yoda, lacks the vices of fear, anger, hatred, and aggression. But does rejection of aggression require pacifism? When can a Jedi fight? Yoda says, “A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.” Although Yoda actively defends and protects when necessary,23 he lacks the vice of aggression.
Yoda wisely knows that fear, anger, hate, and aggression lead to suffering and the Dark Side of the Force, and his wisdom allows him to tell the difference between the Light Side and the Dark Side of the Force. Yoda explains to Luke that he will know the difference between the two when he is “calm, at peace, passive.”
Stoicism and the Virtues of the Sage
Several elements of Stoicism help us to better understand Yoda’s virtues. The Stoics believed that the goal of life was to live in agreement with Nature. This meant several things. First, Nature, that is, the cosmos as a whole, is structured and well-ordered through and through according to Logos, reason. As I will explain more fully below, Logos is akin to the Force. Second, to live in agreement with Nature requires embracing and making good use of all events that unfold in this rationally structured universe. So living in harmony with cosmic events entails living in agreement with our distinctive human nature. While we have various functions in common with other animals, the Stoics believed that reason is our special, distinctive natural endowment. So to live well is to harmonize our distinctive human reason as individuals with the larger rational structure of the universe. The Stoic Epictetus (ca. 55-ca. 135 C.E.) says:God has introduced humans into the world as spectators of himself and of his works; and not only as spectators, but interpreters of them. It is therefore shameful that humans should begin and end where irrational creatures do. We ought rather to begin there, but to end where nature itself has fixed our end, and that is in contemplation and understanding and a way of life in harmony with nature.24
The Stoics understood the perfection of reason to be virtue itself. So the successful, good human life is the life in agreement with virtue. Virtue is the one and only necessary and sufficient condition for the happy life, according to the Stoics. Vice guarantees misery. Because of this, they believed that virtue is the only thing that is really good, and that vice is the only thing that is really bad. Knowledge of what is really good, what is really bad, and what is neither, they thought, is crucial to living well. Moreover, the Stoics believed that all the virtues—wisdom, justice, courage, self-control, piety, and generosity—were really just perfected reason applied to various spheres of conduct.
Reason leads the Stoic to concentrate his mind on what is up to him and under his control rather than worrying about, fearing, anticipating, or being distracted by anything that is beyond his control and not up to him. Timely behavior, for example, is under one’s control and is a virtue of the Stoic. This mindful concentration on what is within one’s control allows the Stoic to be calm and even-tempered no matter what happens, and to be high-minded and noble of heart by rising above trivial or frivolous matters that pla
gue non-Stoics.
In addition, the Stoic seeks to free himself from all passion, excitation, and frivolity in order to be able to apply his reason reliably. The Stoics understood “passion” (pathos in Greek) to be a disturbing, unhealthy movement of the soul. That is why a sickness (of the soul) is called a pathology. The Stoic who has succeeded in freeing himself from all disturbances to his reason has become good. The Stoics believed that there are no degrees of goodness. Until a man is good, he is bad. For the Stoics, the good man thus functions as a prescriptive ideal known as the perfect wise man or “sage.” The sage’s soul is steady, orderly, completely virtuous, and it does not suffer from any “passion.” However, the Stoic sage is not devoid of all emotion. The Stoics believed that there were three “good emotional states” that were not pathological movements of the soul, namely, benevolence (wishing someone good things for his own sake), joy (in virtuous deeds), and caution (reasonable wariness).
Clearly Yoda has many Stoic traits. Yoda is free from the emotions that subvert reason. Yoda is not reckless or impatient, as Luke is at first. Nor is Yoda frivolous. Like a Stoic, Yoda never becomes perturbed or excited. Most significantly, Yoda does not succumb to anger. The ancient Roman Stoic Seneca (ca. 3- ca. 65 C.E.) called anger “the most hideous and frenzied of all the emotions.” Seneca thought angry people were insane, saying of anger:Oblivious of decency, heedless of personal bonds, obstinate and intent on anything once started, closed to reasoning or advice, agitated on pretexts without foundation, incapable of discerning fairness or truth, it most resembles those ruins which crash in pieces over what they have crushed.25
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