Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine

Popular Culture and Philosophy #12

by Kevin S. Decker (Editor), Jason T. Eberl (Editor), William Irwin (Editor)

Starwars book, Like new. been on a shelf for a while!

Genres: Philosophy, Star Wars, Nonfiction, Pop Culture, Film, Essays, Science Fiction Fantasy

227 pages, Paperback

First published March 10, 2005

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

You could probably write a pretty good essay about Jedi philosophy and how it relates to various philosophies from history. Unfortunately, it turns out that you can't write 17 coherent, readable essays about 3 good-great movies and three mediocre-bad movies (After the 6th essay that references Yoda's famous 'do or do not, there is no try,' you'll with you'd picked a philosophy book with more subject matter to choose from.) Many of these essays are simple overviews of a particular philosophers ideas (with a tentative connection to a theme in Star Wars) while others force arguments and conclusions so awkward, you'll wonder how they made it through any critical proof-reading process.

There are a couple relative gems in this book, but if you're into science fiction and philosophy, I'd try Star Trek and Philosophy (which I haven't read but have heard good things) which has that much more media and lore to draw upon.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been ages since I read this, but I remember enjoying it enough, though some might find its focus on the prequel trilogy a little off-putting. It makes sense however that it would have a focus on the prequels, given its publication fell right around the same time as Revenge of the Sith hit theaters.

I liked the book, but I remember finishing it feeling like most of it was just a pretty general and elementary summary of a variety of worldviews and some loose connections that the authors found between these worldviews and the Star Wars universe. Entertaining for sure, but nothing groundbreaking. If you're looking for a more in-depth analysis of the Star Wars universe and its various philosophical themes, you might be better off elsewhere, though sadly even as a huge Star Wars fan myself I don't know where you might find such a book.

[Kat V]

I read the updated version The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy instead. You can look up my review for that book.

[Raughley Nuzzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In college I had to take two semesters of Philosophy. I found it to be dry and unsatisfying. What I needed was a book like this one!

As a Star Wars nerd, I have often found myself having discussions with friends about Obi-Wan's lying to Luke or whether droids have sentience. This book of philosophy essays helps frame many of our nascent ideas through a philosophical frame, citing St. Augustine, Socrates, Hegel, Heidegger, and others and illustrating some of their key works through Star Wars characters, settings, and themes.

I found it to be an excellent, if introductory, survey of philosophy and greatly enjoyed the Star Wars hook. Its age shows a bit, as it was published the same year that Revenge of the Sith came out and so it heavily relies on themes and scenes from Attack of the Clones which do not often hold up under close scrutiny. Similarly, a few of the authors lavish praise for the writing and acting in AOTC felt like a bizarre artifact of a bygone era. That said, the imbalanced focus on AOTC did give me some greater appreciation for that movie, though I much more enjoyed the essays that focused on the philosophical journeys of Luke and Vader or broader musings on the nature of the Force.

I highly recommend this for Star Wars fans interested in dipping their toes in the philosophy pool. Philosophers will have likely seen all these topics covered better elsewhere and those neither interested in Star Wars or in Philosophy will really not enjoy Star Wars and Philosophy.

[Wesley F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid contribution to the pop culture and philosophy series. George Lucas incorporates some pretty interesting concepts from Zen Buddhism, Daoism, as well as a few random topics from Western traditions in his modern epic. The franchise is rich with topics and raw material for a book on philosophy, unlike other pop culture topics in this series. Like the other books in the series, it has a few chapters that are just philosophy tutorials with "just like in Star Wars" tacked on to the end. But I'd say 80% of the book is from legit Star Wars fans, analyzing Star Wars from an expert philosopher perspective. Great stuff!

Parts I and II are my favorites, along with Chapter 16.

Does not need to be read front-to-back. Each chapter is self-contained.

[Miguel Pinto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fine book connecting the "Star Wars" movies with philosophy.
Most of the book is fascinating and allows the fans to see the movies, and philosophy, under a new light and philosophy curious people to see the movies as something other than pop culture drug.
it was easy to read, and good entertainment.
recommend the read

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying this book which combines two of my interests.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cool philosophy cliff notes. Okay, so you probably needed to see all six movies multiple times to really like the book. That's okay. We are legion.

[Thomas L. Clapham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. One poignant point was that not all Sith are wholly evil and not all Jedi are wholly good.

[James Ogunbola]

It was a decent book. It really made me think about the characters in Star wars.

[COYOTE CREATES · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super interesting read for Star Wars and Philosophy nerds. I’m a quick reader but this book took months to finish due to the mental density. Grab your notebook and highlighter.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the last essay in this collection on epistemology and faith: "My reasons for believing in the goodness of my students is not 'truth-conducive,' that is I don't hold this belief based on good evidence. Rather, as a pragmatist, I believe that there are practical reasons why one might be justified in believing something. For example, I believe in the goodness of my students because I think some good will come of it and no harm will be done. Yoda and Obi-Wan lack good evidence that Luke can become a Jedi and vanquish the emperor and Vader..." A fitting ending to a decent collection of essays on philosophy and Star Wars. This was published in 2005, so this is all about Episodes I - VI, with Empire being heavily relied on for much of the textual evidence from Star Wars. The collection is a bit uneven with some of the essays either being too similar in content or weak in their argument, but overall this was a lot of fun to read and think about.
The essay entitled, "By any means necessary: Tyranny, Democracy, Republic, and Empire" is one that is frighteningly prophetic about how easy it is to willing move people from a democracy to a tyrannical Empire. It'd be interesting to see the collection updated after IX is out and there could be focused analysis on Leia and Padamé (and REY!) because women are essentailly left out of this collection.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fine book connecting the pop culture classic "Star Wars" movies with philosophy. Most of the articles are fascinating and allow Star Wars fans to see the movies, and philosophy, in a new light and philosophy enthusiasts to see the movies as something other than pop culture drudgery. This book could also serve as a great introduction to a high school or lower level college class on philosophy as many of the great philosophical minds (William James, Plato, Nietzsche, etc.) are referenced throughout. I do have a few reservations though. First, a few of the authors are not as enthusiastic about the movies as the majority of their peers in this book and seem to be just writing their article for the money. When that is the case, their work seems to suffer for it. Also, while most of the articles are easy enough for a general audience, there are a few articles that are too complicated and could have used a little more editing to make them more accessible. In summation, this is a fine book for fans of Star Wars and philosophy.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

With seventeen essays by different contributors, this book offers an interesting look at different philosopher's thoughts using the Star Wars saga as their point of departure. The use of Lucas' film world provides an interesting thematic approach. Essays look at the Zen aspect of the Force and the Jedi, Augustinian free will in the context of the prophecies relating to Anakin and Luke, a consideration of Hegel's Philosophy of Spirit in the contect of The Empire Strikes Back, and other topics. None of the essays delves overly deeply into their subject. For a survey with an interesting unifying theme, the book is fun and enjoyable. A deeper look, however, would have been more informative and, at the same time, equally enjoyable. This book is a survey and not an in-depth study.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars & Philosophy edited by Kevin S. Decker and Jason T. Eberl is a collection of philosophical essays that draw on the Star Wars movies for examples and the philosophies of St. Augustine, Sartre, and others. The collection is moderately well done in some parts and blatantly falls short in others, with one particular essay not using secondary sources to back up its arguments at all and leaving readers to beg the question whether Trekkies can write about Star Wars at all. The essays draw on ancient philosophers as far back as Plato and Aristotle as well as one essay about Eastern philosophies and mythologies. There are also essays that point to the theories of Kant, Heidegger, and Hegel.

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2012/03/s...

[Mickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars and Philosophy turned out to be my least favorite book of the Blackwell series so far. Some of that is the fault of the material. Star Wars is just not as nuanced as some of the other choices. Also, there was too much of a focus on the final three movies (centered on Anakin), which were personally not my favorites and, in my opinion, did not do a good job of realizing their themes.
There were some excellent individual essays in here. "Stoicism in the Stars", "The Aspiring Jedi's Handbook of Virtue", "A Technological Galaxy", and "'A Certain Point of View': Lying Jedi, Honest Sith, and the Viewers who Love Them" did a good job of combining philosophy and Star Wars.

[Chris Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like philosophy and you like Star Wars then this is for you. Each essay parallels Star Wars themes with movements or fields of philosophy. The level of philosophical discussion is introductory level. This would make a great Freshman year intro to philosophy tool: show the movies, read the major pieces in philosophy, and tie them out with this book.

I do find myself returning to some essays now and again. It has a permanent place on my iPhone kindle as reference material.

[*Kashi* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and Promising, there are some Great contributions by the more enthusiastic writers, not all of them shared the same enthusiasm or understanding of the Series and kind of just drift away from the star wars universe. When I Think Star Wars and Philosophy I tend to Focus on the Original Trilogy which in my opinion had the most appropriate Content for the Book, but they tend to use the new trilogy quite extensively. in overall is a Great Read for any Star Wars Fan.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars is an obvious goldmine for philosophical discussion, and the essays in this book tap into that goldmine to produce some highly entertaining reading. Why do the "good" Jedi lie so much, while the "evil" Sith are more or less honest? Should droids be considered human? Does knowing the future make it more or less possible to change? And for the prequel haters, how the prequels succeeded where the original trilogy failed.

[Carly Krewitsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a series of scholarly essays about Star Wars and philosophy. One of the essays discusses C3Po and R2-D2's "personhood." One of the essays explains how it's interesting that the Jedis who are the good guys don't always tell the truth while the Sith who are the bad guys are for the most part honest. The authors mention Aristotle and Plato as well as other philosophers. Some of the essays were better written than others.

[angrykitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

so now that i finished reading the "house and philosophy" book, i'm on to "star wars and philosophy." i have many of these books to get through, so maybe i should read them more than just while i'm cooking....

...i wish this had been better...it seemed like star wars would be a great vehicle for philosophy, but in the end, it was overall kind of disappointing....

[Kristi Hovington · Rating 4 out of 5]

i recently rewatched all 6 Star Wars films and was once again struck by the mythology of it, which has led to a current obsession of all things star wars and joseph campbell (oh, joey campbell, i love you). this was an excellent read of philosophical ideas through the lens of star wars - i learned a lot more about heigl, nietche, etc. from this book than my intro to philosophy course in college.

[Brian Rashap]

One of the great things that my son, Ethan, and I share is our love for Star Wars... we've been listening to many Star Wars books on audio in the car (when the girls aren't around). I came across this when I was looking through Philosophy titles. It's pretty deep at time...but also quiet intriguing.

[Evan Micheals · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of the series using pop culture to explain concepts of philosophy, which is helping gain a easier understanding and pointing me in the right direction as I start to read the original texts. They are written at my level so that when I read the original texts I can understand them more clearly.

[Andrew Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays, each from a different contributor. Some of them are very good, weaving in their topic with Star Wars extremely effectively. Others on the other hand are boring and mention Star Wars barely tangentially. Because of this disparity in quality, I am giving this a 3 star rating.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for people just getting into philosophy.

Fans of Star Wars will probably get frustrated by the authors "casual" acquaintance with the stories, repeating the same references and lines over and over.

People looking for deeper philosophical discussion will only find intro-level discussions of classic philosophy.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting fsing of traditional philosophy concepts with their portrayl in the star wars movies. Some really interesting reads in there, alittle bit tacky with over referencing star wars, but not too much. It is a star wars philosophy book in the end :D

[DavidO · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mostly compares Star Wars to various philosophies that have been written about in our world. It would be all right if it weren't also a colection of essays by different philosophers, so there is nothing that binds the essays together except that they are about Star Wars.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars....philosophy....what's not to like? Other books about some show and philosophy have been written (the one with Dr. House isn't bad), but I find this one the best. Of course, it's hard to top Star Wars in terms of really great movies as well.

[Tanya]

I love this book series. Great stuff which I intend to use next year. The level of difficulty in comprehension varies a bit, and some contributors drift too far from the Star Wars connection, but overall, great book!