Author Topic: Philosophy of Star Wars...  (Read 774 times)

Nearly Sane

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Philosophy of Star Wars...
« on: December 13, 2017, 07:13:25 PM »

jeremyp

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Re: Philosophy of Star Wars...
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2017, 12:16:45 PM »
Don't these people realise that the Force is simply a magical fictional thing invented by George Lucas in the 70's?

Having said that, questions 1, 2 and 3 make sense and are still interesting if you replace "the Force" with "deterministic Universe". The answer to Q4 is "it's fiction". Q5 is accreted with layers of tautology. Once you strip them away, it's asking what is the difference between something that is real and something that is not real?

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Nearly Sane

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Re: Philosophy of Star Wars...
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2017, 12:33:49 PM »
Don't these people realise that the Force is simply a magical fictional thing invented by George Lucas in the 70's?

Having said that, questions 1, 2 and 3 make sense and are still interesting if you replace "the Force" with "deterministic Universe". The answer to Q4 is "it's fiction". Q5 is accreted with layers of tautology. Once you strip them away, it's asking what is the difference between something that is real and something that is not real?


I think they get that it's a fictional thing that is useful to get some people asking questions that they might not otherwise find interesting. I think Q4 is more about is there anything that isn't natural and what might we mean by saying it isn't. I think 5 is just trying to get people to think about that too. To be fair there are many posts on here and one humungous thread that are based on some not really understanding any of the questions.

jeremyp

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Re: Philosophy of Star Wars...
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2017, 12:50:27 PM »

I think they get that it's a fictional thing that is useful to get some people asking questions that they might not otherwise find interesting.
That's a good point actually. Q's 1, 2 and 3 are really about determinism and it might be an interesting way to get people thinking about that.

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I think Q4 is more about is there anything that isn't natural and what might we mean by saying it isn't.
No, Think that's Q5. The problem with Q4 is that it is asking a question about the nature of an invented plot device and the answer can be changed on the whim of a script writer. For example, The Force is represented as a mystical supernatural thing in the original films but an attempt is made to ground it in fictional science in the first prequel (see midichlorians) but this idea is pretty much forgotten after that.

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I think 5 is just trying to get people to think about that too. To be fair there are many posts on here and one humungous thread that are based on some not really understanding any of the questions.
To me "natural" and "non-magical" mean the same thing as do "unnatural" and "magical". Also, the distinction between natural and supernatural is problematic because anything that we used to classify as supernatural but has been shown to be real automatically gets reclassified as natural.
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Nearly Sane

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Re: Philosophy of Star Wars...
« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2017, 01:00:02 PM »
I think in a sense Q4 works because of the change. My guess is the course will use the ambivalence introduced by the midichlorians to look at why they were introduced , and then as you note quickly forgotten.


And yes, fair point, the non natural magical distinction is a tautology as far as it is seen here. Maybe there is something in the course that expands that. The reclassification question though is surely an interesting one since it covers the idea that saying I don't know is valid but saying it's magic needs something beyond that?