Philosophy and religion in Star Wars

George Lucas' creation of the Star Wars saga was influenced by certain elements of mythology, philosophy and religion.

Analysis

It has been noted that the conflict between "light" and "dark" sides of the Force resembles Zoroastrianism, while their close connection recalls the yin and yang of Taoism:

Lucas's dualism may have been modeled on Chinese yin-yang notions in some ways, but it has equal inspiration from the Zoroastrian ethical dualism of good and evil. Both the dark (yin) and the light (yang) are present in the Force (as they are in Tao), but in Star Wars the dark is associated with evil and the light with good; in Taoism no such ethical links are made.

There is therefore an inconsistency in Lucas's ideas between the duality of yin/yang, where the two should be in balance with each other, and the duality of good/evil, where evil is viewed as wrong. There is nevertheless a strong ethical element to Star Wars, which has been linked to that of Hinduism, Buddhism and Stoicism:

To recap, the virtues the Jedi shares with the Stoic sage are patience, timeliness, deep commitment, seriousness (as opposed to frivolity), calmness (as opposed to anger or euphoria), peacefulness (as opposed to aggression), caution (as opposed to recklessness), benevolence (as opposed to hatred), joy (as opposed to sullenness), passivity (as opposed to agitation), and wisdom. Given all these virtues, Yoda certainly resembles what the ancient Stoics described as the sage—the ideal person who has perfected his reason and achieved complete wisdom.

The name Yoda itself represents a play on the word Yoga, the ancient spiritual practice.

The concept of evil in Star Wars also resembles that of Manichaeism, which posits that good and evil are both real entities. However, since Christianity views evil as the absence of good, the concept of evil in Star Wars conflicts with that of Christianity.

The physical aspects of the Force in Star Wars have been compared to Qi in Chinese and Japanese thought. In the first film it is described this way:

Well, the Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

Connections of the Force to Prana in Hindu thought have also been suggested, but this has been criticised as a misinterpretation which confuses the Paramatman with the individual soul.

According to postcolonial scholar Edward Said, the Orient’s association with the mystic, magic, spirit, and the inexplicable allows the West, armed with scientific rationality and technological superiority, to overpower the Orient.

Asked what he makes of the fact that so many people interpret Star Wars as profoundly religious, George Lucas replied: "I don't see Star Wars as profoundly religious. I see Star Wars as taking all of the issues that religion represents and trying to distill them down into a more modern and more easily accessible construct that people can grab on to, to accept the fact that there's a greater mystery out there."

Book on the subject

Star Wars and Philosophy is a compilation book written by various college professors, most of them in the philosophy field. The book is edited by Kevin S. Decker, Jason T. Eberl and William Irwin and published by Open Court.

Published in March 2005, the book discusses various philosophical issues regarding the Star Wars franchise and its universal settings such as the ethics of the conflict between good and evil or if the role of robots constitutes slavery or not.

External links

• Studying 'Star Wars': Professor offers philosophy course in the Force