Table of Contents
Acknowledgments: Legacy of the Force ix
Introduction: “The Circle is Now Complete” 1
I The Philosophical Menace 5
1 The Platonic Paradox of Darth Plagueis: How Could a Sith Lord Be Wise? 7Terrance MacMullan
2 “You Are Asking Me to Be Rational”: Stoic Philosophy and the Jedi Order 20Matt Hummel
3 The Jedi Knights of Faith: Anakin, Luke, and Søren (Kierkegaard) 31William A. Lindenmuth
4 Anakin and Achilles: Scars of Nihilism 42Don Adams
5 Dark Times: The End of the Republic and the Beginning of Chinese Philosophy 53Kevin S. Decker
II Attack of the Morals 65
6 Chasing Kevin Smith: Was It Immoral for the Rebel Alliance to Destroy Death Star II? 67Charles C. Camosy
7 The Ballad of Boba Fett: Mercenary Agency and Amoralism in War 79David LaRocca
8 How Guilty is Jar Jar Binks? 90Nicolas Michaud
9 “Know the Dark Side”: A Theodicy of the Force 100Jason T. Eberl
III Revenge of the Alliance 115
10 “Like My Father before Me”: Loss and Redemption of Fatherhood in Star Wars 117Charles Taliaferro and Annika Beck
11 The Friends of a Jedi: Friendship, Family, and Civic Duty in a Galaxy at War 127Greg Littmann
12 Light Side, Dark Side, and Switching Sides: Loyalty and Betrayal in Star Wars 136Daniel Malloy
13 Guardians and Tyrants in the Republics of Star Wars and Plato 148Adam Barkman and Kyle Alkema
IV A New Hermeneutic 159
14 Pregnant Padme and Slave Leia: ´ Star Wars’ Female Role Models 161Cole Bowman
15 Docile Bodies and a Viscous Force: Fear of the Flesh in Return of the Jedi 172Jennifer L. McMahon
16 Of Battle Droids and Zillo Beasts: Moral Status in the Star Wars Galaxy 183James M. Okapal
V Metaphysics Strikes Back 193
17 Why the Force Must Have a Dark Side 195George A. Dunn
18 What is It Like to Be a Jedi? A Life in the Force 208Marek McGann
19 “Never Tell Me the Odds”: An Inquiry Concerning Jedi Understanding 219Andrew Zimmerman Jones
VI Return of the Non-Human 229
20 Mindless Philosophers and Overweight Globs of Grease: Are Droids Capable of Thought? 231Dan Burkett
21 Can Chewie Speak? Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Language 240Rhiannon Grant and Myfanwy Reynolds
22 Can the Zillo Beast Strike Back? Cloning, De-extinction, and the Species Problem 250Leonard Finkelman
VII The Fandom Awakens 261
23 “In That Time . . . ” in a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Epic Myth-Understandings and Myth-Appropriation in Star Wars 263John Thompson
24 Star Wars, Emotions, and the Paradox of Fiction 274Lance Belluomini
25 The Mind of Blue Snaggletooth: The Intentional Stance, Vintage Star Wars Action Figures, and the Origins of Religion 287Dennis Knepp
26 Gospel, Gossip, and Ghent: How Should We Understand the New Star Wars? 296Roy T. Cook and Nathan Kellen
Contributors: Troopers of the 501st Legion 308
Index 317