159 Lotus Sutra, Chapter 3: “Parable of the House on Fire” http://www.buddhistdoor.com/bdoor/0112/sources/lotus7_p1.htm .
160 Plato, The Republic, Book III, 414d-415d. For more on this subject, see Chapter 14 in this volume.
161 Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, The Power of Myth, PBS (Mystic Fire Video, 1988).
162 For further discussion of the de-humanizing nature of technology depicted in Star Wars, see Chapter 9 in this volume.
163 William Clifford, “The Ethics of Belief,” in Lectures and Essays; reprinted in William L. Rowe and William J. Wainwright, eds., Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, third edition (Harcourt Brace, 1998), pp. 456-461.
164 Ibid., p. 460.
165 Ibid., p. 456.
166 Ibid., p. 460.
167 William James, “Ethical Importance of the Phenomenon of Effort,” in John J. McDermott, ed., The Writings of William James (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 716.
168 The only empirical test I can think of that might be performed is the blood test for “midi-chlorians” that Qui-Gon performs on Anakin in The Phantom Menace; but as far I know, this test is not available to Luke.
169 William James, “The Will to Believe,” reprinted in Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, p. 466.
170 Yoda and the other members of the Jedi Council had the same reluctance to train Anakin. It’s interesting to speculate about James’s attitude towards the justification of Qui-Gon’s faith to take Anakin as his padawan. Initially, it seems that Qui-Gon’s faith is unjustified since Anakin turns to the Dark Side. Nevertheless, it appears that in the end Anakin fulfills the prophecy by killing the Emperor, and thereby restoring balance to the Force. So perhaps Qui-Gon’s faith was justified after all.
171 I wish to thank Kevin Decker and Jason Eberl for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. I would also like to thank Seetha Burtner and C. Joseph Tyson for fruitful discussions about Star Wars and philosophy, as well as my mentor, Professor Charlene Haddock Siegfried, Donald Crosby, Wayne Viney, and William Rowe from whom I learned so much about William James. Additionally, I would like to thank Andrea (Cummings) Gerig who caused me to begin thinking about the ethics of faith “a long time ago.”
Volume 12 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy™
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Star wars and philosophy : more powerful than you can possibly imagine / edited by Kevin S. Decker and Jason T. Eberl.
p. cm.—(Popular culture and philosophy ; 12)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-0-812-69701-8
1. Star Wars films—History and criticism. 2. Philosophy in motion pictures. I. Decker, Kevin S. II. Eberl, Jason T. III. Series.
PN1995.9.S695S76 2005
791.43’684—dc22
2005002396
Star Wars and Philosophy Page 27