Post by Sidro Haanc on Aug 1, 2005 18:19:23 GMT -5
The sides of the Force
Orthodox Jedi philosophy
The Jedi and others refer to two sides of the Force, a dark side and a light side. This echoes the concept of Yin Yang in Eastern philosophy, but is not a straight translation, as the emotional dark side is denoted as a Force of evil by the Jedi. The dark side is not made up of specific "parts" or "abilities" of the Force: the dark and light sides of the Force exist inside of the life form which uses it, made from their emotions. George Lucas compared the light and dark sides to the processes of symbiosis and cancer. A follower of the light side tries to live in harmony with those around him. Mutual trust, respect, and the ability to form alliances give the Jedi their distinct advantage over the Sith. In contrast, a follower of the dark side is only out for themselves. To strike down a living creature with the Force out of anger, fear or another emotion is of the dark side. To refrain and clear one's self of these emotions is of the light side. Use of the dark side of the Force is distinctly frowned upon within the Jedi Order, and is strictly considered the domain of the Sith. the Force plays a major part in the Jedi use of a lightsaber in that their heightened awareness keeps them from accidentally injuring themselves while using the weapon in combat, as the blade has no relative weight, making it difficult to judge its position. Similarly, the Force allows a Jedi to use his/her lightsaber to deflect incoming blaster bolts. The Force also comes into play during the construction of a lightsaber, both in assembling its intricate innards, and the initial charging of the power cell.
Jedi are keen to keep the Force in balance. They attempt to achieve this by destroying the Sith and denying the dark side, as the dark side is corruption. This involves the purging of negative emotions such as aggression, anger, and hatred, since they can easily bring on acceptance of the dark side. In contrast, positive emotions such as love, compassion, and courage nurture the light side of the Force. The Jedi Code compares such feelings and provides insight into the ethical use of the Force.
It seems most Jedi are proponents for The Unified Force, wherein they focus on the past, present, and future as a whole (however, visions of the future are of particular significance in the conservative Jedi mindset), ignoring primary use of The Living Force. Voices for the latter espouse a philosophy of "live for the moment" and heavily rely on their instincts. This viewpoint might have allowed the Jedi Order to stave off the conflict that gave rise to the Galactic Empire, as its members lost themselves in looking forward rather than analyzing the unfolding events before them.
The organizational goal of the Jedi Order is to maintain peace and justice in the galaxy.
Sith philosophy
The dark side of the Force is innately tied to the distinctly negative ethical paradigm of the Sith. It is largely based on emotions and passion rather than peace and serenity which are preached by the light side of the Force. The dark side of the Force comes from the hate, anger, fear, aggression, vengeance, and malice in all living things. In the Star Wars movies, the practitioners of the dark side are Darth Sidious and his successive apprentices Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, and Darth Vader.
The Jedi believe that emotions such as fear, uncertainty, doubt, anger, suffering, and attachment are "inevitably" self-destructive, and lead to the dark side. the Sith philosophy, on the other hand, is to use such emotions to fuel one's own will to power, ego, and selfishness. The inevitably destructive havoc caused by the actions of a dark side practitioner are excused as serving a greater purpose under this philosophy.
The negative emotions increase the strength and abilities of a dark side practitioner. As a result, the dark side of the Force is extremely addictive: every time one calls on its power, one becomes more and more attached to it. Darth Vader desired to use this to his advantage during his time trying to turn his son, Luke Skywalker, to the dark side. If he could convince the young Jedi hopeful to call on the dark side enough times, the boy would find it more difficult to resist in the future.
The Sith also believe that instead of living along side the Force, one must master it and use it as a tool.
Overall, dark side relationships and organizations are inherently unstable. For instance, the pupil-master relationship of the Jedi is perverted under the Sith, as both the apprentice and the master naturally plot against one other, and one will eventually kill the other. Every time a dark side Force has risen in the Star Wars galaxy, it has collapsed from within due to its own unstable nature. The Empire is no exception. When Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader discovered that Luke Skywalker was Vader's son, both wanted to turn Luke to the dark side. Vader wanted his son to help him kill Sidious and rule the galaxy together, but Sidious wanted Luke to take Vader's place as his apprentice. This phenomenon is probably the closest one can come to suggesting that the dark side is in fact weaker than the light side, as it is likewise one way of arguing that evil is weaker than good in Abrahamic religions; it was no doubt seized upon by proponents of the Potentium theory of the Force (see below).
Darth Bane considered the Force to be finite, and thus best restricted (ideally) to the use of a single Sith Lord. After the Battle of Ruusan, he eliminated the practice of having vast numbers of Sith at the same time and concentrated the dark side of the Force into two individuals: a Sith Master and Apprentice. This tradition, or "rule of two," is still in practice with the current Sith Order, which underwent a small reformation by Dark Lady Lumiya after the deaths of Vader and Sidious at Endor.
The Dark Lords Sidious, Vader, and Tyranus had each trained some followers with dark side abilties, but none of these followers were given Sith rites, thus The Rule Of Two was essentially kept in effect during the era of Darth Sidious.
Potentium and unitary views of the Force
The Potentium view of the Force, considered heresy by Old Republic Jedi, holds that the Force, and the galaxy in general, was inherently good, and that there was no evil side to the Force. This view gained greater acceptance under the New Republic, mostly due to the influence of Vergere, a surviving Jedi from the days of Old Republic.
Orthodox Jedi philosophy
The Jedi and others refer to two sides of the Force, a dark side and a light side. This echoes the concept of Yin Yang in Eastern philosophy, but is not a straight translation, as the emotional dark side is denoted as a Force of evil by the Jedi. The dark side is not made up of specific "parts" or "abilities" of the Force: the dark and light sides of the Force exist inside of the life form which uses it, made from their emotions. George Lucas compared the light and dark sides to the processes of symbiosis and cancer. A follower of the light side tries to live in harmony with those around him. Mutual trust, respect, and the ability to form alliances give the Jedi their distinct advantage over the Sith. In contrast, a follower of the dark side is only out for themselves. To strike down a living creature with the Force out of anger, fear or another emotion is of the dark side. To refrain and clear one's self of these emotions is of the light side. Use of the dark side of the Force is distinctly frowned upon within the Jedi Order, and is strictly considered the domain of the Sith. the Force plays a major part in the Jedi use of a lightsaber in that their heightened awareness keeps them from accidentally injuring themselves while using the weapon in combat, as the blade has no relative weight, making it difficult to judge its position. Similarly, the Force allows a Jedi to use his/her lightsaber to deflect incoming blaster bolts. The Force also comes into play during the construction of a lightsaber, both in assembling its intricate innards, and the initial charging of the power cell.
Jedi are keen to keep the Force in balance. They attempt to achieve this by destroying the Sith and denying the dark side, as the dark side is corruption. This involves the purging of negative emotions such as aggression, anger, and hatred, since they can easily bring on acceptance of the dark side. In contrast, positive emotions such as love, compassion, and courage nurture the light side of the Force. The Jedi Code compares such feelings and provides insight into the ethical use of the Force.
It seems most Jedi are proponents for The Unified Force, wherein they focus on the past, present, and future as a whole (however, visions of the future are of particular significance in the conservative Jedi mindset), ignoring primary use of The Living Force. Voices for the latter espouse a philosophy of "live for the moment" and heavily rely on their instincts. This viewpoint might have allowed the Jedi Order to stave off the conflict that gave rise to the Galactic Empire, as its members lost themselves in looking forward rather than analyzing the unfolding events before them.
The organizational goal of the Jedi Order is to maintain peace and justice in the galaxy.
Sith philosophy
The dark side of the Force is innately tied to the distinctly negative ethical paradigm of the Sith. It is largely based on emotions and passion rather than peace and serenity which are preached by the light side of the Force. The dark side of the Force comes from the hate, anger, fear, aggression, vengeance, and malice in all living things. In the Star Wars movies, the practitioners of the dark side are Darth Sidious and his successive apprentices Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, and Darth Vader.
The Jedi believe that emotions such as fear, uncertainty, doubt, anger, suffering, and attachment are "inevitably" self-destructive, and lead to the dark side. the Sith philosophy, on the other hand, is to use such emotions to fuel one's own will to power, ego, and selfishness. The inevitably destructive havoc caused by the actions of a dark side practitioner are excused as serving a greater purpose under this philosophy.
The negative emotions increase the strength and abilities of a dark side practitioner. As a result, the dark side of the Force is extremely addictive: every time one calls on its power, one becomes more and more attached to it. Darth Vader desired to use this to his advantage during his time trying to turn his son, Luke Skywalker, to the dark side. If he could convince the young Jedi hopeful to call on the dark side enough times, the boy would find it more difficult to resist in the future.
The Sith also believe that instead of living along side the Force, one must master it and use it as a tool.
Overall, dark side relationships and organizations are inherently unstable. For instance, the pupil-master relationship of the Jedi is perverted under the Sith, as both the apprentice and the master naturally plot against one other, and one will eventually kill the other. Every time a dark side Force has risen in the Star Wars galaxy, it has collapsed from within due to its own unstable nature. The Empire is no exception. When Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader discovered that Luke Skywalker was Vader's son, both wanted to turn Luke to the dark side. Vader wanted his son to help him kill Sidious and rule the galaxy together, but Sidious wanted Luke to take Vader's place as his apprentice. This phenomenon is probably the closest one can come to suggesting that the dark side is in fact weaker than the light side, as it is likewise one way of arguing that evil is weaker than good in Abrahamic religions; it was no doubt seized upon by proponents of the Potentium theory of the Force (see below).
Darth Bane considered the Force to be finite, and thus best restricted (ideally) to the use of a single Sith Lord. After the Battle of Ruusan, he eliminated the practice of having vast numbers of Sith at the same time and concentrated the dark side of the Force into two individuals: a Sith Master and Apprentice. This tradition, or "rule of two," is still in practice with the current Sith Order, which underwent a small reformation by Dark Lady Lumiya after the deaths of Vader and Sidious at Endor.
The Dark Lords Sidious, Vader, and Tyranus had each trained some followers with dark side abilties, but none of these followers were given Sith rites, thus The Rule Of Two was essentially kept in effect during the era of Darth Sidious.
Potentium and unitary views of the Force
The Potentium view of the Force, considered heresy by Old Republic Jedi, holds that the Force, and the galaxy in general, was inherently good, and that there was no evil side to the Force. This view gained greater acceptance under the New Republic, mostly due to the influence of Vergere, a surviving Jedi from the days of Old Republic.
