Discussions: Star Wars and Plato
Plato and Star Wars:
Universal Truths
Plato knew the power of dialog and story, as does George Lucas, the writer and creator of Star Wars. Plato knew that through story and myth we examine our culture's values and thoughts. Plato used his dialogs to illustrate and present his ideas for truth, courage, wisdom, and justice. Similarly, Lucas uses his stories to portray the values of today's culture. While Lucas has freely admitted to "retelling" older myths and stories to make his movies, he also, whether consciously or not, borrows from philosophy as well ("Empire of Dreams"). Four major similarities between Lucas and Plato's Republic can be seen in the types of government used and how they decay, how the people are categorized, the traits of the guardians and the Jedi, and the actions of a just man versus that of an unjust.
Plato's Republic envisioned a perfect city-state that would be divided into three different classes: that of warriors, philosopher-kings (or guardians), and the common people (Plato, 216). His purpose for envisioning this city was to explore the human soul of a perfectly just man and compare him to a perfectly unjust man. His ideas about the city included what type of people would live in it, how its guardians would be taught, as well as how all would live. While Plato used his utopia for examining the soul, Lucas has created a galaxy with many similar characteristics for examining our myths.
The first major similarity is in the structure of the governments for The Republic and Star Wars. The Galactic Republic, which has existed for over twenty-five thousand years, forms the major government for the galaxy. Senators represent the people of the galaxy and through legislature work to maintain trade, settle disputes between organizations, and provide defense (Wikipedia, "Galactic Republic"). The Galactic Republic is a highly organized democracy, using parliamentary rules and customs (Wikipedia, "Galactic Republic"). A major characteristic of The Galactic Republic is the level of bureaucracy and corruption in the Senate. During the events of The Phantom Menace, the Senate has lost most of its power and does not work for the common good anymore. Even the Supreme Chancellor is helpless in the face of political accusations. This state of affairs can be expected because of The Galactic Republic's size and variety in views. According to Wikipedia.com:
When the Republic's power and influence expanded, many new areas of the galaxy were incorporated into the Republic. A reorganization of Senatorial representation occurred 1,000 bby during the Ruusan Reformation. The most common organization for these new territories was to group regions into Sectors of about 50 inhabited worlds.Each sector was represented by a Senatorial Delegation. When the number of sectors became too large, sectors were organized into roughly a thousand regions, each represented by one delegation to the Senate. ("Galactic Republic")
These large sectors encompass many worlds all seeking proper representation. Plato himself knew of the difficulties with democracy and their problems. His state envisioned a wise-philosopher king that could rule with reason and wisdom. Anakin himself professed a desire for this type of rule. In Attack of the Clones, he states that a wise person should sit down with all sides and, if necessary make them agree to an issue (Salvatore, 197). However as we will learn in Revenge of the Sith, if the wrong man is selected to lead, the wise-rulership will decay into a tryanny or dictatorship. Lucas portrays Plato's ideas throughout his films and helps our culture to see how governments can be dangerous if not regulated and controlled. Lucas even copies to form the pattern of rule that Plato saw. In The Republic, Plato states that the failures of democracy (not everyone can be satisfied if everyone wants something different) would turn into a tyranny (one man getting what he wants)(Plato, 216). As Plato says, "And so tyranny naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme form of liberty?" (Plato, 216). This is seen in Star Wars, as the Emperor schemes to take control of the galaxy.
Another similarity of Lucas' and Plato's government is how the people of the galaxy are divided. The people of the Galactic Republic can be divided into three groups: the common, the Jedi Knights (a blend of Plato's guardians and warriors), and the leaders (elected officials in the Senate). The common people include most people in the Galactic Republic who work on different planets (pilots, soldiers, bureacrats, cooks, merchants, etc.) and all those who are not Senators or Jedi. An important fact is that in Star Wars the individual planets are allowed armies and soldeirs, but The Galactic Republic itself (before Attack of the Clones) has no standing army: the Jedi fill that role. Plato's city-state was a single unit whose parts were seperated and made to work for the whole.The Galactic Republic has the same qualities but on a larger scale.The common people are important to The Galactic Republic and help to keep it functioning - they all serve as common citizens and are represented by Senators.
Different than Star Wars, Plato saw Guardians as the rulers and not Politcians. During his life, an oligarchy ("the Rule of the Thrity") governed.He, also, did not trust democracy because of Socrates' death at the hands of the mob. The politicians rule in Star Wars because of the Ruusan Reformation - an event that cuased many in the galaxy to fear the Jedi. According to Wikipedia.com:
In symbolic measures, largely to convince the Republic that they would not become a conquering army, the Jedi abandoned their battle armor, renounced all military ranks (such as 'Lord'), disbanded their armies and placed themselves under the supervision of the Supreme Chancellor and the Judicial Department. In order to lessen the chance of a Sith resurgence, the Order began moulding children from birth. In addition, the training of padawans was centralized on Coruscant, to remove the danger of unsupervised students delving into forbidden Sith knowledge. ("Ruusan Reformation")
Lucas does show part of the problems with politicians ruling - the Senators have become self-absorbed and corrupt. These problems are similar to ones that Plato saw during his life. As Palpatine said in The Phantom Menace, "the Senate is full of greedy, squabling delegates who are only looking out for themselves and their home systems" (Brooks, 212).
The second similarity is portrayed through the triats of the Jedi. As a blend of the warriors and guardians, the Jedi reflect traits from both classes. Jedi Knights are the guardians of the galaxy and upholders of justice. They have been trained to use the Force for good and resist temptation of evil. They use the Force only while their passions and desires are controlled. If they act with their emotions raging, they could fall to the dark side of the force. This is the most important part of being a Jedi; so important, that the Jedi Code is based on this danger:
There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no death; there is the Force. (Bioware)
Plato's warriors had many of the qualities of the Jedi. They were raised to be spirited and fierce to enemies but act with temperance towards friends. They were to act with wisdom and courage as well:
I mean that both of them ought to be quick to see, and swift to overtake the enemy when they see him; and strong too if, when they have caught him, they have to fight with him.
All these qualities, he replied, will certainly be required by them.
Well, and your guardian must be brave if he is to fight well?
Certainly.
And is he likely to be brave who has no spirit, whether horse or dog or any other animal? Have you never observed how invincible and unconquerable is spirit and how the presence of it makes the soul of any creature to be absolutely fearless and indomitable?
I have.
Then now we have a clear notion of the bodily qualities which are required in the guardian.
True.
And also of the mental ones; his soul is to be full of spirit?
Yes.
But are not these spirited natures apt to be savage with one another, and with everybody else?
A difficulty by no means easy to overcome, he replied.
Whereas, I said, they ought to be dangerous to their enemies, and gentle to their friends; if not, they will destroy themselves without waiting for their enemies to destroy them. (Plato, 44)
Guardians and Jedi both were to be given specific guidelines in education and training. While Plato would have had his citizens tested for wisdom (through a standardized testing and education program), Jedi have perfected a means to test newborns using a blood analysis process. According to The Phantom Menace, newborn children would be tested early for a concentration of organisms known as midi-chlorians (Brooks, 241). As Qui-Gon tells Anakin:
"What are midi-chlorians?"
Wind whipped at Qui-Gon's long hair, blowing strands of it across his strong face. "Midi-chlorians are microscopic life-forms that reside within the cells of all living things and communicate with the Force."
"They live inside of me?" the boy asked.
"In your cells." Qui-Gon paused. "We are symbionts with the midi-chlorians."
"Symbi-what?"
"Symbionts. Life-forms living together for mutual advantage. Without the midi-chlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. Our midi-chlorians continually speak to us, Annie, telling us the will of the Force."
"They do?"
Qui-Gon cocked one eyebrow. "When you learn to quiet your mind, you will hear them speaking to you."
Anakin thought about it for a moment, then frowned. "I don't understand."
Qui-Gon smiled, and his eyes were warm and secretive. "With time and training, Annie, you will" (Brooks, 241).
This allows them to be discrete in their tests and quickly find new recruits. Their use of this testing is out of necessity as they are not permitted to marry or feel strong emotions.
Plato too knew that certain practices that he thought were necessary should be kept secret. While Jedi are outlawed from having families and feeling passionate emotions such as love, Plato used a "secret lottery" system in which children of the guardians were bred. No natural births were to be allowed (Ross). Plato also separates people into the different categories by how far they get through his education program (Ross). He justifies his actions to the people through a useful myth he tells his people that if a child is found to be of a different rank, they must be moved to other families and raised in different households. This is because Plato sees having a guardian who is not wise as posing a severe risk for his society. The good of the whole is better than the good of the family to Plato. Plato makes this clear in his myth:
True, I replied, but there is more coming; I have only told you half. Citizens, we shall say to them in our tale, you are brothers, yet God has framed you differently. Some of you have the power of command, and in the composition of these he has mingled gold, wherefore also they have the greatest honor; others he has made of silver, to be auxiliaries; others again who are to be husbandmen and craftsmen he has composed of brass and iron; and the species will generally be preserved in the children. But as all are of the same original stock, a golden parent will sometimes have a silver son, or a silver parent a golden son. And God proclaims as a first principle to the rulers, and above all else, that there is nothing which they should so anxiously guard, or of which they are to be such good guardians, as of the purity of the race. They should observe what elements mingle in their offspring; for if the son of a golden or silver parent has an admixture of brass and iron, then nature orders a transposition of ranks, and the eye of the ruler must not be pitiful toward the child because he has to descend in the scale and become a husbandman or artisan, just as there may be sons of artisans who having an admixture of gold or silver in them are raised to honor, and become guardians or auxiliaries. For an oracle says that when a man of brass or iron guards the State, it will be destroyed. Such is the tale; is there any possibility of making our citizens believe in it? (Plato, 82-83)
Jedi children are also to be taken from birth from their families; they are raised in an environment that divorces them from the outer world and shields them. This allows the Jedi Masters to pick what will influence their pupils and what they will see during their impressionable youth. According to Starwars.com, "Jedi instruction is rigidly structured and codified to enforce discipline and hinder transgression." While much of the training of young Jedi's has not been reveled in the movies, they have shown that students are tested in the Dialectic, or Socratic, Method. This is seen when Yoda asks his pupils, who are about the ages of five to eight, to find the solution to Obiwan's problem. Obiwan was puzzled as why the Jedi Hall of Records, reputed to contain all information about the whole galaxy ("If it does not appear in the databanks, it does not exist"), did not have any information about a planet (Salvatore, 164). According to Obiwan's informant, the planet did indeed exist. Yoda asked his students for their thoughts about this problem, instead of giving Obiwan the answer himself. This allows his students to exercise their powers of reason and critical thinking.
In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon attempts to pay Watto for services with twenty thousand Republic credits (Brooks,114). Whether or not this is his personal money is not mentioned in the film or book, but it is not probable that he could amass that much wealth on his own. In our own culture, very few have twenty thousand dollars that they can spend on goods. Moreover, as Lucas' goal was to create a galaxy of people committed to the common good (during this period, anyways), having a wealthy Jedi seems unlikely. This means that his account was probably a communal account to which all had access. Attack of the Clones makes this claim even more likely as Yoda takes it upon himself to purchase the clone army that had been created (Salvatore, 313). Likewise, Plato insisted that his guardians not possess any property, money, or treasure of any kind. According to The Republic:
Then now let us consider what will be [the guardians] way of life, if they are to realize our idea of them. In the first place, none of them should have any property of his own beyond what is absolutely necessary; neither should they have a private house or store closed against anyone who has a mind to enter; their provisions should be only such as are required by trained warriors, who are men of temperance and courage; they should agree to receive from the citizens a fixed rate of pay, enough to meet the expenses of the year and no more; and they will go to mess and live together like soldiers in a camp. Gold and silver we will tell them that they have from God; the diviner metal is within them, and they have therefore no need of the dross which is current among men, and ought not to pollute the divine by any such earthly admixture; for that commoner metal has been the source of many unholy deeds, but their own is undefiled. And they alone of all the citizens may not touch or handle silver or gold, or be under the same roof with them, or wear them, or drink from them. And this will be their salvation, and they will be the saviors of the State. But should they ever acquire homes or lands or moneys of their own, they will become good housekeepers and husbandmen instead of guardians, enemies and tyrants instead of allies of the other citizens; hating and being hated, plotting and being plotted against, they will pass their whole life in much greater terror of internal than of external enemies, and the hour of ruin, both to themselves and to the rest of the State, will be at hand. For all which reasons may we not say that thus shall our State be ordered, and that these shall be the regulations appointed by us for our guardians concerning their houses and all other matters? (Plato, 84)
Having examined the Jedi in full, Plato's just man is clearly seen through them. Plato also looks at the unjust man in The Republic. Lucas also examines unjust men through the Sith.
In comparison to the Jedi, the Sith have many opposite traits. This is not directly told in the films, which show little of the Sith culture, but rather in the games and books. The Sith emphasize that emotion and feelings are necessary for full mastery of the Force. Jedi are seen as mere users of force and not in control. They deny the richness of the Force and ground themselves in moral bindings that limit their powers. Sith pride themselves on being full masters by not limiting what powers they use or emotions they feel. Their code reads as follows:
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through Passion, I gain strength.
Through Strength, I gain power.
Through Power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me (Bioware).
Plato may have identified the warriors more to the Sith than the Jedi. They are fierce fighters whose "spirit" is barely contained. While they claim to be in a master / apprentice system, the reality is that they all serve their own needs - the master rules with fear to keep his apprentice under his control. When the apprentice decides that his master is weak, he then duels with him. Thus, the apprentice becomes a master (if he wins the duel) and the cycle starts over again. Both are serving their own needs for survival and power. Plato saw the need for temperance, even in his warrior class. This is what keeps the Sith from becoming just. They instead personify the unjust man, who can barely keep his passions bridled.
Both Jedi and Sith have the power to use the Force but what separates them is they use it. They both have emotions but the Sith allow their emotions to rage and burn while Jedi remain cool and calm. An understanding of the Force will help to see how these differences influence them in their actions.
The Force is described as being "an energy field that surrounds, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together" (Lucas, Star Wars: A New Hope). While much of the nature of the Force is left unknown in metaphysical terms, The Phantom Menace has allowed us to see a new aspect: the Force is experienced only because of midi-chlorians (Brooks, 241). In fact, Qui-Gon Jinn makes it clear that the midi-chlorians are important for the Force and all life in the Star Wars universe (Brooks, 241).
Whether or not using certain powers of the Force leads to the dark side than others is unclear. For instance, while powers such as Force jump and speed are used by both Jedi and Sith alike, Force lightning has been only used by the Sith. Only the Jedi have used healing powers. The games have added their own nuances and interpretations, but have not been consistent. In Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Kyle Katarn, a Jedi trainer, has said that the powers are not evil or good. What makes their use good or bad is how they are used (Activision). This means that a good Jedi could use a "dark side" power for good use. This claim could shed light on a scene in Star Wars: The Return of The Jedi, when Luke chokes (for an instant) a Gammorrean guard (Lucas). This action seems to be a good use (for defense) in this context.
Other games, such as Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2, show that by using these dark powers a person can become accustomed to using his will to get his way (Lucas Arts). This can lead to the dark side. In addition, by using these powers he falls closer and closer to the dark side. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) tends to support the view that the powers are merely tools and how they are used, determine whether it is good or bad. It does have a caveat' though: "darker" side powers are harder to access then good for the Jedi, while Sith can easily draw from their dark powers but not the good (Bioware). KOTOR does place a strong emphasis on the actions of the character though (Bioware). For instance, it is possible to "trick" everyone into giving you free parking for your ship or anything else that benefits your character (not paying for items, etc.); but the game, through dialog and a dark/light side gauge bar, makes it clear that these actions do cross into the dark side (Bioware).
In Dark Force Rising, however, Luke has self-doubts about using his powers to confuse the minds of enemy pilots (Zahn, 125). He even realizes that his use of the Force during Star Wars: The Return of The Jedi could be perceived as "walking the line" between dark and light (Zahn, 125). In Vision of the Future, Luke also begins to realize that his total reliance on the Force, even for mundane tasks, could be deleterious (Zahn, 222-225). By relying on the Force too much, he has begun to draw towards the dark side, even when he uses them for good (Zahn, 222-225). Vision of the Future makes clear that relying on anything too much, even for good purposes, can be harmful (Zahn, 222-225). Even in using the Force, moderation is necessary.
Both Plato and Lucas examine justice in the actions of people. Justice, of which Jedi are sworn to uphold, can be easily seen in the actions of the Jedi in the films, books, and games. In the movies, the Jedi (Qui-Gon especially) often work to protect the innocent and help others. A great example of this is Qui-Gon freeing Jar-Jar Binks from the Gungans (Brooks, 52). He acted to save the life of Jar-Jar, and freed Anakin from a life of slavery. While both of these actions can be seen as self-serving, the actions of other Jedi are clearly not. In Dark Force Rising, Luke is asked to arbitrate a dispute between two people (Zahn, 106). The book makes clear that this is a traditional role of the Jedi( Zahn, 106). KOTOR also states this as the main character is often given situations where he can arbitrate claims (Bioware). In one part, he even takes the role of a lawyer in defending a man accused of murder (Bioware).
In understanding the Jedi, we can begin to see a picture of the perfect just man that Plato desired. We can see, for instance that the Jedi rule with wisdom and reason. They are fierce when necessary but moderate at other times. Qui-gon, Obi-wan, Yoda or even Anakin are prime examples of these traits.
Looking at the Sith, we can begin to see Plato's traits of an unjust man. These were the opposite of the just. The unjust man did not reign in his desires with temperance; he lusted for more and more pleasures. He also did not fight for honor, but rather money (or power) was his motivation. An unjust man is not motivated to seek wisdom, rather he seeks to overcome all others and take everything he desires. The Emperor can clearly fit this pattern. Through guile and deceit, he maneuvered his way to the throne (creating the title of Emperor) and sought more and more power. In Star Wars: A New Hope he even disbanded the Senate and took direct control of the galaxy (Lucas).
Clearly, Plato's Republic and George Lucas' Star Wars have many similarities. These similarities illustrate how Plato's ideas and philosophies are important to our life today. His ideas about the Good and justice help us to live better lives. While his ideas about a utopia may seem radical to us today they do illustrate how a just man is to live. In the same way Lucas' stories will live on for future generations. Lucas knows that through myth and story he shapes how we live our lives with virtues and values. Plato will live on through the stories that we tell and movies that we make.
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