The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy by Jason T. Eberl & Kevin S. Decker

Author:Jason T. Eberl & Kevin S. Decker [Eberl, Jason T. & Decker, Kevin S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781119038085
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2015-08-04T00:00:00+00:00

Jedi and Present-Day Guardians

As we have seen, the Jedi are on the side of justice, so long as we understand justice to mean “to treat each as it ought to be treated.” Treating each as it ought to be treated means doing the right thing, and in order to do the right thing you first need to know what the right thing to do is. Yoda teaches Luke Skywalker that he'll be able to know the good from the bad when he is “calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.” When Palpatine and Anakin discuss the difference between the Jedi and the Sith, Anakin defends the Jedi by saying that “the Jedi use their power for good.” Before his training is completed on Dagobah, Luke wants to leave to help his friends. Yoda and Obi-Wan don't want Luke to leave even though his friends are in trouble – not because they don't care about his friends, but because his training is more important. Luke needs more knowledge of the light side of the Force to protect him from the temptations to tyrannical power proffered by Darth Vader and the Emperor: “If you end your training now,” Yoda warns, “If you choose the quick and easy path, as Vader did, you will become an agent of evil.”

If the good is something we can have some understanding of, then Anakin, Yoda, and Plato are most likely right. The Jedi are selfless servants who sacrifice their lives for the safety and well-being of others, and that seems to be a pretty good thing. Platonic guardians and Jedi alike, therefore, should be the most virtuous of all people – they must exemplify the four cardinal virtues of courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice. Their rational nature should control their feelings and desires: reason looks up at the sun (Plato's metaphor for the highest good), while feelings such as anger, fear, and aggression blind them to the truth and lead to the dark side.33 The best rulers will be the best Jedi who pursue goodness, justice, and wisdom while also being courageous and noble fighters. The Jedi Council are very close to the picture painted by Plato of the ideal guardian-philosophers – the only thing lacking is their power to rule. They are servants of the Republic, which Plato would see as absolutely essential for any guardians, but they also take orders from weak and corruptible Republic politicians.

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