As a child, we played out in the forests and the parks.. one day me and some of the other kids decided to make swords and spears (or lightsabers) out of sticks, until of course during play... someone got hurt, in this case me. I was whipped in the face with a motion of a particularly nasty and flexible branch, you know the type.. the ones that swoosh really nicely when you wave them around... at any rate. I then literally felt like my brain was at a crossroads of choice, my face was red.. it felt like it was burning... and the pain singed through me. one side a flash of rage. of wanting to hurt in turn for being hurt.. and on the other a case of indescribable calm, of knowing that it was merely an accident, that I shouldn't escalate. ...and even as I chose to listen to the calming side of myself, I felt the rage spill over as if it washed across the shore of my reasoning. making me imagine how good the idea to retaliate would feel... all of this, happening in the span of moments as I was processing what had just occured. ...I didn't give in... I merely told the other kid to back off and do it quickly before I changed my mind. ...but I did keep myself under control. somehow, to an extent... this is as close as I can imagine the struggle with being "good" or "evil." or not by choice can be. ...it starts with you. what you allow to rule you. or not at all. stay in control.
YES! CS Lewis would also say that the Good is a sheet of piano music. Our instincts (anger, lust, greed, joy, grace) are all keys. No key is wrong per say. They are played at the wrong times and contexts. You can rebel against the sheet music. And we try to master when we hit the keys. No fumbles. Self control.
I've experienced this many times, and it's what makes me so different than my dad, my dad chooses to get angry when something doesn't go his way, accidental or not, and he always blames whoever was responsible, saying that they deserve it, and yet he's absolutely miserable and always mad, that isn't the life I want to live, I've been hurt many times, some of those times even resulting in trips to the hospital, but what's the point in getting mad, mistakes happen and in my opinion the only way forward is one of understanding
Good is not merely a "point of view." There are certain things that are right and that are wrong, and they will always be so, no matter what type of spin you try to put on it.
Extremely well-put. While there is always nuance to every situation... sometimes we need to step back and realize, good really is just that simple most of the time. "The sage is good to those who are good. He is also good to those who are not good. That is the virtue of good." - Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
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I agree with your main point. I will say however, that self-care and grooming, or lack there of, isn't really good or evil. You do it for yourself. It's not altruistic or malicious.
I clicked on this video with no expectations - just killing time. Boy am I a glad I did! Brilliant! One of this best philosophical discourses on Star Wars I’ve ever heard.
that means a lot thank you! You might like the newsletter form of what we do, over at geekystoics.com, and is free. It inspires what we create here for UA-cam
And where it gets fuzzy is that the Jedi's failed attempt at being good is that they tended to reject good qualities which the Sith then co-opted, seeing them exactly like the Jedi did.
Ultimately though the prequels have shown, bad or not, good or not-The Jedi philosophy is either flawed or has become flawed-I actually find it hard to believe that the Jedi lasted successfully for thousands of years. I find it equally implausible that the Republic lasted so long.
There is a Simple Way to Tell the Difference Between Good and Bad. Good is Selfless and Loves Unconditionally, Evil is Selfish and it's Love is Highly Conditional if it has Love at All.
Whenever we communicate (which is probably pretty much always,) we outline a world, and put other people in that framework. Not intentionally, usually, and it’s often the recipient who does most of that work by putting themselves into the framework they perceive us to be presenting. When a human asks another human why they did something, that’s a type of question that will often be interpreted as at least a little confrontational; an accusation. It doesn’t matter if anyone considers the action good or bad. The recipient of that question will often get defensive. The reason it may seem like people don’t feel the need to defend good actions, is because they are rarely questioned. And the reason it makes sense for me to refer to ‘good actions’ here, is because many actions are culturally defined as good. And what becomes culturally defined as good, are the things that are good* for the culture to define as good; the things that propagate or preserve the culture. *I choose to use the word ‘good’ in this specific instance to mean ‘getting what you want’. Defining something as good, turns it into a kind of intrinsic reward. Humans are so abstract. They can just put a positive connotation onto anything, and feel good* about it. *I choose to use the word ‘good’ here to mean something like ‘happy, pleasant, free from pain, rewarded, righteous, etc.’ That’s a value judgment. Why is it good to be happy? For society, it’ll probably increase productivity, and decrease opposition and desire for change. Is that good? As for the individual… there are many things I could say about it, but I wouldn’t get any deeper. Humans don’t make sense. Nothing does, when examined. All meaning is constructed.
Well said. The objective good he refers to as such, is just our innate drive to belong with and defend our base group. It's the same feeling for all of us, but we define what giving into and following the feeling means. For it to make sense we apply alot of inferences to frame it, thus in this constructed knowing it gives us a sense of relief when the defined task is met but where we fail to impose an answer on it it causes anxiety.
Hi! First of all, thanks for the good quality discussion, I disagree with the point being made (which, if I understood right, is moral realism). The two main arguments in favor of it seem to be that (1) we are born with some good behaviors and judgments, and that (2) all societies in history make some judgements, e.g. don't celebrate backstabbing. I don't know about number 1, have we ever raised children isolated from any culture and checked if they behave righteously? Regarding 2, it is a strong argument, but it could be explained in terms of group selection: maybe, long ago, there did exist societies which celebrated backstabbing, but they back-stabbed themselves to death. That would mean that some behaviors would be biologically set in individuals as "the natural good", yes, but it is also a manifestation of a society being self-serving, wanting to have a culture which makes it stronger against competing societies. Anyway, excited to hear opposing views well argued, gonna subscribe for more.
Really appreciate you engaging on this and the sub. Lots to get into! We host conversations on Discord and Google Hangouts for subscribers of the newsletter, geekystoics.com
While, no, what is said at 7:35 isn’t entirely untrue and it is a very possible explanation for that type of concealment, I agree with your point as well. It is very possible to hide something simply because you know it will end badly for you if you expose it, and not because you instinctively know it’s morally wrong.
Isn't it more accurate to say that instead of being born with good and evil inside us we are instead born with an innate understanding of "fairness" and "unfairness" (which has been shown by the monkey grape experiment where the monkeys got mad when they saw other monkeys get the good food while they got the bad)? Seeing others getting harmed unjustly and feeling upset for them could be our empathy applying our desire to not get punked to others making us not want others to get punked.
Being fair, we could attribute some more f this to evolutionary traits, such as helping out the group to be a more productive member do you survive longer. But I'll ponder this more ❤
Recommend reading chapter 2 of this essay by CS Lewis, "Some Objections" - he talks a bit about if evolution or "herd instinct" is to account for our morals. Might be extra food for thought! steve4040.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/mere-christianity-by-cs-lewis.pdf
Hey, thank you for letting us know that. I too, was surprised to do a Star Wars and CS Lewis video, its just where my reading pointed me haha. Finding connections is a pleasant surprise
Awesome video, i think language also reveals out innate intuition of good and evil as well. For example, you will here wars being described as justified but no one will say they are good. People will say it is good to give to the poor but no one uses the word justified to describe charity.
@@Abuhan47 Wars are aknowledged as neccesary evils, thus it doesn't follow anyone would call them good. There's already mass concencus that violence isn't good and such large scale mass violence isn't good regardless of their justification to need to take place. No one uses the word justified in charity because it's not in our concensus to require justifying charity 🙄 and I don't think you feel it neccesary to enforce a burden to justify oneself to engage in charity and I'm sure you understand its because you already know "charity" as a concept. 🤷♂️
@@Abuhan47 If you read it proper you would know for sure. Don't ask to have explained what is plainly written. And Quit pretending two inconsequential Emojis are that distracting from reading what I said. Pretending you can't read such a concise reply is taking credibility from you. I care about honest discource and if this is your attempt to handwave, I'm disappointed. Either you can read and aknowledge what I pointed out and Either accept the sound reasoning or you don't accept it. Focusing on the Emoji to keep from making a direct response is Lazy. And no one likes the guy that makes a mountain out of it, in general on the internet. That's a red flag one wants to avoid in and of itself FYI. Thx for the response, I'm looking forward to your next one. Good day.
I do believe that most of the time good and evil are clear and we humans inherently know right from wrong. But there are situations that are more gray areas, such as deciding to have an abortion if you know the baby won’t live a certain amount of time outside the womb, do you let it develop, give birth and watch it die, or do you abort in in mercy or whatever? Or, do you lie to your friends father who is going to beat your friend when he finds out where he is, etc. These sorts of situations are gray areas but whatever the decision, I think we must make the best decision possible. Right and wrong is usually clear, but not always. Good video.
Holy crap what an amazing video. Usually these lower viewed philosophy videos are a bit janky and incoherent but this was incredible. You really made me think about my opinion on objective Good and Evil.
You two realize you're calling emotional intelligence and our empathic drive as objective good, don't you. That's also not something that's not done many times before through out history of philosophical debate. It's not objective and it's guided by our cooperative instincts toward one another as a social species. The good per se has form after the nurtured perceptions in each and everyones upbringing. This impulsive good pushes us all with the same feeling(sense) into divergent action. Same sensory input, separete external outputs. The same sense of good is what drives honor and honor killings of your own. You're following the same impulse to stay true to your family, "don't run, huddle together, protect" the same feeling that holds you from sacrificing your family for your own skin is the exact feeling that drives your swing of a sword to cut down an enemy on the battle field. The feeling of need to do right by your own, to belong, doesn't differentiate by the moment it's differentiated by your inferences. That empathic bond to defend your base group doesn't inform your actions, your personal inferences on what following the feeling means, does. Pointing to an natural unguided drive isn't particularly profound. Pointing to our innate empathy is good but we still are in the seat of neccesarily having to define what the best way of giving in and following this feeling is, as it doesn't define that on its own.
@@GeekyStoics Well done. I am an atheist who is a moral realist (someone who holds morality is objective though the correct term is moral realism). All my life I've seen Nihilism creep across our culture. Most people embrace it. Your video is well thought out and does a good job of explaining moral intuition within the naturalistic branch of moral realism. Whether you believe in god or not the intuition of our morality is accessible to us all. Alex O Connor has changed his views on morality constantly as he doesn't think things out. He was an emotivist but after being challenged in metaethics he now still rejects morality but he doesn't know where he stands. He was a vegan but had to quit because he didn't plan out how that would go. Hes put on a pedestal for promoting Nihilism by a society that is already Nihilistic
4. On Morality Authority vs Balance a. The Morality of Pattern-Objectivity [Line Of Authority] Authority coupled with Free-Will is Freedom formed by the heirarchy of The Pattern Of Creation. Pattern-Objectivity is the ultimate Morality that enables access to this free-will & freedom, but is not always accessible. Why? Because Authority is to Ethics which is Black & White & is suppose to be compatible with the black & white of science. It can only do this through line of authority earned through the natural heirarchy of The Pattern of Creation via the Merit of Free-Will. Therefore Knowledge & Definition are premised by Faith. Heirarchy is about self-determination & allows there to be a separation event to preserve this authority...this is the nature of Authority. Alternatives to this involve the circumventing of numbers & geometry & the failure to trace & form a non-crossing adherence. Why not Love & Balance? Because Love is the footstool of all the heirarchies of balance [due to force] & is preceded by Pattern-Objectivity in the process of The Pattern Of Creation. I choose black & white Pattern-Objectivity which leads me to 1 rule....The Pattern Of Creation. This choice becomes my paired instinct. b. The Morality of Instinct/Conscience [Island Of Authority] The "Little" Authority that is Prejudice. Prejudice is the nature of the Innate [meaning from birth]. It is the immutable pre-mortal [aka Apriori-Instinct] programming & the common-instinct of being moral so that one does not have to long-hand an explanation to themselves or another in order to make an argument. The Isms are the discipline instincts that incline us to favor certain patterns that are sensed to contribute to our well-being. This includes discriminatory isms as well. Taking a risk proves the instinct according to the different levels of action. This includes running away because one must still be brave enough to face ancestors....but that's picking a fight with them now isn't it.... c. The Morality of Love/Everyman-Fallacy/Dogma-Inclusivity [also balance] The incomplete & dogmatic argument that love is all one needs & that power is plentiful because of it, therefore there are to be no restrictions on identity & behavior that are not a continuity of The Pattern of Creation. It means that Love is imperfect. d. The Morality of Balance/The Flip-Flop Conspiracy/Falling-Circumspection Balance has nothing to do with morality, except as Enforcement of Ethics & is Pressure-Based. Balance claims to be a means of gambling to guess the "right" thing to do by trying it all to acquire an experience. Does the means justify the end or does the end justify the means, or both? Or the "Golden Rule". It's a question of balance. Ultimately one might think both the means & the end were justified if they formed The Pattern Of Creation, but "Balance" thought to cause semantics to "jump-start" the creation process again. Love [also known as Faith] makes the same argument, but without the long process & dialogue [sortof like sex]. In addition Equality which balance is attributed to, can fend for itself if God intended all souls to be equal, but is oft times used as an argument to gain a foot-hold in an immoral attempt at controlling heirarchy. Evil does not know how to exist in silence, because God spoke. The presence of an equation is the sign of a conflict that needs to be reconciled & some equations were never meant to be solved. No one wants Equality except for when claims match facts.
Star Wars' murkiest take on morality can be found in Kotor 2 and I highly recommend everybody play it. It views the light side(enlightenment) as altruism and the dark side as egoism. Two extremes that destroys life to enhance life. Altruism weakens the individual to strengthen the whole, and egoism strengthens the individual at the cost of the whole. You can largely be an egoist while still getting the light side ending and help so many people while getting the dark side ending. All of this is to say good is a point of view and Star Wars exited black and white morality ever since Empire came out.
Do what thou wilt. Is the whole of the law. Love is the law, love under will. ---- Alistair Crowley This is often quoted as an evil doctrine. But this is literally what you're describing in this video. Quiet your mind and listen to your heart, we all know what is right. For us. The key distinction here is that your video implies that all humans have the same values. Crowley acknowledges that people have different views. Why are you here? What are you here for? Quiet your mind, and you'll find that drive that makes life worth living.
We innately know it is wrong to kill, steal, rape, lie, betray, and so on. But it is defining the situation as such good or bad action. Is war justified or is it killing on a large scale? Is taxation justified or is it theft? Is surveillance justified protection or invasion of privacy.? Must there be a spoken or written consent from both people before any sexual act otherwise would it be considered rape? Someone in is born in or lives under an authoritarian state and tries to escape to a better life would that be considered a traitor? Or the classic if your friend is hiding from an axe carrying crazy person and would you lie to the crazy person to protect your friend?
@@GeekyStoics your book just arrived yesterday, so I put Steven King’s “dark tower” book series on pause and I will definitely leave a review after reading👍🏼
High republic Jedi were actually the good guys. The new Jedi were too involved with the representative government. They followed the arbitrary “will of the people.” rather than following the will of the force.
@@GeekyStoicsalso, I wouldn’t put too much stock in the sequel trilogy and the stuff Luke was saying there. It is a far cry from what Lucas and Star Wars had originally setup thematically. The light and the dark seek balance and a true Jedi serves the Force aka the good side. A Sith who gives into the dark side and weaponizes it like Sidious essentially is a cancer that corrupts and goes against the very will of the Force. Therefore it’s not a Jedi vs Sith ideological fallacy, it’s that combat the Dark side and the Sith the Jedi need to accept the dark as a natural part of oneself in order to overcome it.
just getting started!! we operate mainly as a Substack, GeekyStoics dot com - the videos come from the articles we publish there for the newsletter. Podcasts as well anywhere you get pods. 2024 we up our video game - Stephen
There is true good (i'm a christian) but i feel like star wars shows us how from our own personal experiences, anything could be considered "good" showing our capability to do great evil. Which i think is correct because we are all sinful without the goodness of God
"Nobody trys to hide right action," They do if they A) are afraid of getting cancled, or B) are trying to be humble. And just because it feels like the right thing to do, dosn't allways mean it is either. Good intentions can pave the way to Hell.
GREAT VIDEO & SUBJECT MATTER...I think the fundamental difference between the Light Side, which represents good and is used by the Jedi, and the Dark Side, which represents evil and is used by the Sith, is that the Dark Side is like an all-out 100-meter dash/sprint on cocaine , 5 expressos and 10 Redbulls; it's really impressive but it's never long-lasting; it either consumes and destroys you and /or everything and everyone around you. And even if you have managed to live a long life such as Palpatine using it, you can never transcend your mortal life unlike Light Side users. The Light Side is similar to a marathon; it takes more time to get to your destination, it requires more self-control (temperance) because if you don't pace yourself, you'll gas out. So with the Dark Side, you get powerful very fast but that power eventually consumes you to the point of self-destruction, which is why the Sith ended up fighting among themselves which led to the rule of 2. Unlike the Dark Side, the Light Side is predicated on virtue: you need to be patient (not knee-jerk rashness) like most Sith with the exception of Palpatine and a few other in history and still, their patience was never true patience because it was predicated on deceit and dishonesty), brave (not reckless), level-headed/tempered (Hot-headed and out of control), prudent and wise (not cunningly Machiavellian) to stay in the marathon race and reach your full potential. To cultivate virtue and, as the video says, make prudent decisions, one needs to rely on reason and not emotionalism, and one cannot think clearly when one is being led by his base-emotions which is the trademark of the Sith. This is what Yoda meant when he told Luke that he would eventually be able to tell the difference between right and wrong but only through calmness, which comes with trial-and-error and maturity (which he lacked at that point).That said, although a code/precepts/principles/dogmas/doctrine is important, especially at a younger age when an inexperienced individual is in training (learning), it/they should be seen as guidelines and not as an absolute that enslave(s) you to the point of dogmatic rigidity, which is what sadly had happened to the Jedi. That is why the concept of the "Grey Jedi" emerged after Qui-Gon Jinn; he was a Light Side user but he did not allow the Jedi Code to restrict or prevent his growth and understanding of the (living) Force. That said, some fans have implied that Grey Jedi could use the Dark Side without falling into it but that is wrong as it would blur the lines between good and evil ( the end does not justify the means/ necessary evil) on top of being a direct contradiction in regard to the warning Yoda gave Luke about giving in just once to the Dark Side ("forever will it dominate your destiny)
Lots to think about with this comment, thank you!! Agree about the espressos and redbull big time. It's a false charge. You might like the newsletter form of what we do. Thats over at geekystoics.com and is free. Inspires what we create here for UA-cam
Sorry, but extended legends comics and novels to Dark Horse : Legacy era comics, .. Palpatine spiritual transcend as a force ghost, .. much to Leia cringe. As for Canon, that is something Catholics and protestants argue about. Even Kenobi & Yoda becoming One with the Force is from Greek/Roman myths. As for current occult teaches and Xtian propaganda of summoning astral spirits/demons or .. gods .. that transcends time & space. It is all a bunch of made-up stories, with millions of people arguing over and about .. made up stories.
I just want to see the redemption of an ‘evil’ character in Star Wars who then has to live with the struggle of what they did in the past (kylo but survives) it’s always the opposite
right and wrong, good and evil are entirely human inventions. there's no higher law or power in nature that dictates morality, that's just an idea we have invented to justify our ideas of good and evil, right and wrong, which are actually quite different between time periods and cultures. but crucially, we're the only ones who care. look at nature, the wolf isn't good or evil for killing a sheep, and neither do any of them care. what one might call our innate ability to tell good from evil is better described as instinct, our deepest and most primal behaviours that we developed as animals to function better in our environment. with any other animal, we don't call their instinctual social behaviours and rules morality, we only do that for ourselves. but beyond ourselves, nobody and nothing out there cares if we do something good or evil, because those concepts don't exist, and neither does anything beyond ourselves to enforce them.
just curious, and we appreciate your comment here, what was the killing of the Younglings? Just another day and a deed equivalent to stealing some Blue Milk from Dax's Diner?
Wrong on so many levels. First of all - there are evil animals. There were wolves that snatched children and needed to be put down. It was common in europe. It's the same with basically everything. So if you got that wrong your whole point doesnt make any logical sense. There were also other "tribes" of wolves that didnt do it. Why did it happen? Maybe some guy in france fed his dead kids to wolves. Evil creates evil.
yea, I dont really believe we are born knowing right and wrong, more so we are born selfish and only worry about ourselves, but we mature as we grow older and realize that other people have feelings as we do, and so thats where the saying comes from “we treat others the way we would want to be treated” its a saying that is taught to us in school really really early for a reason. we arent born knowing right from wrong, we are taught it, very early in fact because of this.
I think what he means is if this person believes there is no right or wrong then why would he be grooming himself in the way society dictates is right personally I think this is part of the nature vs nurture debate, OP seems to imply this is all nature based on some sort of innate human sense of what is good (in this case good grooming). personally though considering the many differing trends in fashion through the years(,decades,centuries) I would argue that this must be largely nurture based
Haha a valid question! I wasnt sure whether to put that part in, but Im aiming to make the point that everyone has views of what constitute “good” things. Watch their behavior. Why does he groom? Why does he not stay in bed all day? Why does he go to college and read books? Because he does actually have a sense of what is an objectively good way to be. Moral relativists love the idea of subjectivity in all Things, but dont behave that way.
@@GeekyStoics He like everyone else has a sense of what is good and bad. That's what the interview were about and his grooming is one aspect out of a collection of traits he holds as good that aligns with most societies ideas on grooming. But it's not warrant to arbitrarily phrase it as having a sense of 'objective good. Many areas of the world wouldn't consider his subjective good of grooming this way to be good at all but heretical. Not just mixing fabrics or using unnatural fabrics but because he doesn't have a full and thick beard all the time. To the Muslims that beard is an objective good. You need to understand that just because relativism doesn't accept there's a true good or evil way of doing things, relativism hasn't ever said people do not carry their own sense of what is good and bad, it says they do and so according to the individuals needs and goals within a preset system of societal ethics. Taking peoples individual sense of what is good for them as some sort of tacit admission towards a true good is Ignorant. Nor is calling this variable sense objective Warranted.
JBP ought to have y'all on his podcast...and if you find 'em too religion-y or 'Gawd'-focused well, he's had convos with Alex O'Connor, Michael Shermer, Lawrence Krauss, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Stephen Fry, Robert Trivers and others of such disparate inclination. Anyway he just seems to expose himself a lot to various other minds on matters of meaning and it would be cool if y'all were able to be the guests on some future episode among the now countless others who include notables (IMO) like John Vervaeke, Jonathan Pageau, Robert Greene...
we would love that. JBP would also really like Stephen Kent's book "How The Force Can Fix The World" --- leave this suggestion in his comments will ya? Maybe he'll see it
Good is a point of view & always has been ✅. Palpatine for e.g. was doing nothing but exposing who the Jedi under Yoda’s leadership truly was. He never really lied about anything to him , he even was honest about not being able to “Cheat death” currently but give him time & he will figure it out because that knowledge has been lost to time. The guy was manipulating things to his design for his sith grand plan yes but overall palpatine actually gave a f*ck about Anakin/Vader & would have even more if he succeeded in his mission to defeat Kenobi on Mustafar ☝🏾. The Jedi was using him from day one & the sith just wanted him to do a few things then he could live a life of more or less luxury up to a certain point.
Great video tho you need to read Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche. I think it would do your video justice, people try to justify the Jedi order tho they championed the republic and strayed away from the principles. Genocide on indigenous worlds for pirate trade systems is not good, Yoda telling Luke to kill Vader tho it’s not the way to defeat him, is not good. Cloning attack dogs to dispose of is not good. Lucas made it grey for interpretation on purpose.
I think both perpectives on the moral compass is correct and wrong. Morality is a naunced topic. There is some black and white to morality, but at the same time when speaking on larger concepts such as a person or group of people there is rarely a true evil or pure good.
If you sacrifice your own comfort for others' well being you are good. If you sacrifice the well being of others for your own comfort you are evil. If you allow a pointless war to continue which kills thousands of civilians so you can get a cut of the military contracts you are a Democrat 😅
Good and evil are entirely subjective. This is a blatant fact. They are value judgements. And value is entirely relative to the eye of the beholder. The majority believing in something and sharing common ground is not indicative of any truth. The vast majority of human history thought the Earth was flat. That doesn't make it so. The vast majority of humans believe in > insert completely disproven religion here. < The vast majority of humanity believes in blatantly illogical concepts, such as free will, etc. Majority belief means nothing. And there are people like me, who have entirely different subjective moral systems from the common human, with me deeming probably around 99% of them as evil. The reason most humans have vaguely similar ideas on morality (ignoring that they differ way more than you think) is because humans evolved as a social species to develop traits to help them work together to survive. That is all. And something being natural doesn't inherently make it good in my eyes. Giving birth for instance, is arguably the most evil act a human can do under my subjective moral system, since you're bringing someone into a horrible world where anything bad can happen to them, or even them being born disabled, etc. And they didn't ask to be here. Giving birth is "natural", but that doesn't make it not completely evil to me and the primary cause for all suffering still. And it is an objectively selfish action, with selfish being a trait and traits being an objective thing. Deeming traits as good or bad would be a moral thing and thus subjective. Another uncommon moral view of mine would be that murder isn't bad depending on your reason and who you did it too. For instance, I do not care about the deaths of 99% of humanity because I deem them to be terrible for countless of reasons. If one kills them due to this thought process, then this is good in my eyes. Though, if one happens to kill who I deem evil for reasons I also deem evil, then their action is evil in my eyes, despite the result being good. Despite this, all of my moral views are equally subjective as anyone else's. But people like me are living proof that there isn't even a universal morality (aka where all people inherently believe in the same fundamental morals). But even if there was, that wouldn't make it objective. Furthermore, even if a god did exist, his moral views wouldn't be objectively moral. It'd just be yet another subjective set of values. Morals are based on feelings, not logic. There is nothing wrong with that. Every sentient being by default has some set of morals, but let's not pretend they are objective. Lastly there's the argument of what "natural" even entails. One can argue everything, including our technology is natural, as it is built from natural resources. And all human personalities are natural, as they come from our natural minds or our natural environment and people around us. So even this already fallacious argument of natural objectively equals good doesn't hold up especially when considering this. As for the meaning of life, there is none. It is yet another subjective thing. You make your own meaning. If it matters to you, then that's all that matters as far as you're concerned. There are objective things in reality, but morality, meaning, etc. are objectively subjective. If you want better views on the force, look at the EU of Star Wars, which is far superior to just the movies or the Disney canon. Pre-recton KoTOR 1 and 2, hell, even post-recton SWTOR are great examples of more proper views of the force. And if you want any remotely proper understanding of reality, don't look to religion.
"Well that's just like, you're opinion, man" I would venture to report negative valence categorically declares itself of inherent logical import [to resolve], and that, basically, for any given cosmic configuration [which we all are; every entity that can enter that state space, is an entity in, and part of, the system of the universe], unreconciled 'torture' be bad, mmkay. But no, that's just the same as a color preference, right, or preferences period, yeah? C'mon. Switch to hardcore mode, no BS-ing. Your statement that "good and evil are entirely subjective" is entirely subjective. There you're convinced of your error, eh? Lol...Seriously I can play that game and probably better than you (not to denigrate that you're not being serious or are playing a facade, I have no suspicion of that). I just mean to say, your line of argument is not as carbide bullet-proof as you seem to believe Others such as Sam Harris (for example, and albiet imperfectly) have articulated coherent views of an ontologically valid axiological bedrock, and yes it is inextricably linked to sentients/sentience, though not simply a subjective arbitrary nihilism cope (or whatever you would like to call it - some selected spin someone runs off of a baseline 'because nothing' in their 'motive [non]logic' structure). I'm by no means a master here, but I would argue as follows. Self-discipline, stamina and strength of the spirit overcoming suffering with honesty and compassion (thru pain, patience, lots of experiential learning, transformation), is closely tied to good. There are numerous loci that I could point to including surely some better than this as foci here but, a YT short that populated in my mind worthy of mention - titled "Good" (on 'Jocko Podcast' channel) - can provide a relatively decent sketch of this so-called 'good' that is being referred to here As for the rest of your comment, that's the easy explanations any atheistic, agnostic, ignostic (as I am, and am also foundherentist-ish, fallibilistic probabilist, and highly versed, familiarized with the relevant bits such as logical fallacies and logic broadly as it critically relates in these matters, epistemology, cognitive biases, the modern scientific methodology, healthy skepticism, etc.), or similar such secular person could render without much long, hard, real struggle and work...certainly nothing as a definitive proof or pointing to such, as you seem to pose it as...
I promise I’m not trying to be a fun-sucker or mean-spirited with this comment 😅 Overall, I like Star Wars, but the story is designed to be simple and enjoyable young adult fiction for the whole family. It’s not philosophy. Good and evil and morality are always a relative point of view. The irony is that Star Wars has the word “Wars” in the title, but it’s not about war, it’s not a story about soldiers and generals, and it doesn’t have a “war is hell” outlook until Andor. War is fueled by the selfishness of leaders, bias and prejudice, or a set of beliefs that are in opposition with an enemy’s beliefs. Characters in Star Wars fight for good and evil with good multi-colored lightsabers and bad red lightsabers, but almost never for a cause. That’s why Star Wars stories struggle so much when it deviates from the default plot of rebels versus an empire. That silly conversation they have in Clerks could have literally been the plot of a sequel trilogy about fighting for a cause: the villains are radicalized to be pro-Empire (a lost cause) because they are all related to family members who were stormtroopers, engineers, and cooks (and yes, contractors!) on the Death Star destroyed in A New Hope or on the partially-built Death Star destroyed in Return of the Jedi. An older Leia could have been written as an anti-hero Chancellor who installs a police state on Coruscant and former imperial planets. Why? Because the Empire destroyed her home planet of Alderaan right in front of her. “Remember Alderaan!” could have been her battle cry. Because morality is relative and subjective. Difficult moral dilemmas and defending the consequences of those choices are what determine how we perceive good versus evil. “Your focus determines your reality.” - Qui-Gon Jinn George Lucas has an in-depth understanding of mythology thanks to the classes he took in college. He’s also the poster-child of an ignorant generation of youth who couldn't help but cling to outdated themes of good versus evil in their Westerns and in their Flash Gordan episodes. He has absolutely no understanding of philosophy, history, or political science. Lucas would categorize Machiavellian “the ends justify the means” thinking as being Sith-esque, but doesn’t that concept perfectly describe destroying both Death Stars? The heroes shoot, stab, and slaughter Stormtroopers left and right, but then the villains who command them must be redeemed. Why? Coruscant and most of the galaxy is diverse, but the Empire seems to be made up of only humans. Is that an intentional reference to intolerance? Yes, I know, Palpatine having a crazy manifesto and ending a trilogy with Nuremburg trials would suck the fun out of a blockbuster, but remember… Lucas wanted the original trilogy to have a Vietnam War vibe, which it doesn’t. And he wanted the prequels to have a democracy to despotism storyline, which it barely has (the transition happens at the end without any reaction from the people). And then he wanted… to sell the franchise. Lucas even specified once that those “contractors” who were building the second Death Star would have probably been Geonosians, since the designs are briefly shown at the end of Attack of the Clones. He then said the clerks were worried about “a bunch of large termites.” Sounds like something a Sith would say. Or, “the ability to speak does not make you intelligent.” - Qui-Gon Jinn
Actually, everything is philosophy. Every single piece of creation is informed by a way of thinking and reflects the values of someone who created it. Without exception. Star Wars is family entertainment, and it also means something. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is fairy tale reading at the 5th grade level, and also a fictional spin on Natural Law theory which you could get a PhD studying. But the story of Narnia gives you the first stepping stone. Star Wars is that. And George Lucas has said it plenty, on the days he's not using "its a kids movie" to defend it from critics. He switches when it suits him lol.
@@GeekyStoics I suppose! The part you wrote about the first stepping stone is why both the sci-fi/fantasy genre and YA fiction have value. And Star Wars certainly has more philosophical elements than Michael Bay's Transformers films! lol It's not my intention to rain on the parade and critique the movies in a cynical way (The Clerks example just came to mind as a fun rebuttal/moral dilemma). I do love the Star Wars setting and I stop by the Star Wars YT channels every now and then out of curiosity. The Empire Strikes Back and Andor are the two Star Wars stories that have the most meaning to me. If someone finds meaning in the prequels, then they're not "wrong." It's all subjective, which is my point with the post. Star Wars fandom online over the last 10 years has just spiraled into a weird place and that's unfortunate. Fandom is supposed unite folks and not divide them.
@@brandoncooley9967 come give us a try over at geekystoics.com / you might appreciate some of the writing and find it uplifting for that battle with cynicism :)
Celibacy is a road to the dark side , just look what it did to the jedi . No nookie led to the destruction of the Republic , and darkness for the galaxy . Ashes to ashes , dust to dust . If you don't whip it out and get it wet , it is gonna rust .
There is no philosophy here. Look at the fruit. Anakin lost everything instead of gaining everything. Case closed. Evil destroys, good creates. Can you imagine palpatine taking care of living and weak being? Being a flower or an animal?
There is always good and evil but it all about the people choices to do good or evil let’s face it no matter how flawed the Jedi was they were right for not trusting Palpatine he is a Sith Lord in the end of day needs to be stopped. Also best not take any words from the TLJ Luke seriously that version of him wasn’t in his right mind because balance of the force in the light side while the dark side is corrupted and the unbalance.
To be fair George Lucas and that's how I prefer balance personally has said balance means the extinction of dark side users though the dark side is not evil. Great video btw ua-cam.com/video/wiImoO5QkcA/v-deo.htmlsi=kGXse0iafEu8Imdq
Objective morality doesn’t exist imo. There is no “right” or “wrong” because morality is, innately, subjective. What’s more, I’d argue that morality can’t even be classified in true or false statements, and rather is feelings of disapproval or approval for a set of actions.
Can you elaborate on that view a bit? I've been interested in moral expressivism ever since I learned of its existence, but never actually met anyone who holds it.
@@samueldimmock694 I find this better to show someone by asking a series of questions of them essentially, everyone always argues what actions or “right” and “wrong” but what exactly does being morally “right” entail? People say we “should” do this or that, but what does “Should” even mean? And why “should” we do things that are morally right?
@@h20dynamoisdawae37 That does seem to be the best way of figuring out what morality actually is. I've tried following that line of reasoning before, and arrived at moral realism, but I did it by myself, not with another person, so I may have missed something.
Wow I was enjoying this till you included the high budget fanfiction. Nothing of Disney Star Wars and their version of balance is real Star Wars. In George Lucas’s eyes, balance means total victory of the light side. From disneys point of view, they take it to mean half Jedi half sith. Not even Revan style either, just simpy grey Jedi. I’d say don’t call me a bigot but I’m hard shadowbanned, so if you read this congrats! You prolly are too 💀
As a child, we played out in the forests and the parks.. one day me and some of the other kids decided to make swords and spears (or lightsabers) out of sticks, until of course during play... someone got hurt, in this case me. I was whipped in the face with a motion of a particularly nasty and flexible branch, you know the type.. the ones that swoosh really nicely when you wave them around... at any rate. I then literally felt like my brain was at a crossroads of choice, my face was red.. it felt like it was burning... and the pain singed through me. one side a flash of rage. of wanting to hurt in turn for being hurt.. and on the other a case of indescribable calm, of knowing that it was merely an accident, that I shouldn't escalate. ...and even as I chose to listen to the calming side of myself, I felt the rage spill over as if it washed across the shore of my reasoning. making me imagine how good the idea to retaliate would feel... all of this, happening in the span of moments as I was processing what had just occured. ...I didn't give in... I merely told the other kid to back off and do it quickly before I changed my mind. ...but I did keep myself under control.
somehow, to an extent... this is as close as I can imagine the struggle with being "good" or "evil." or not by choice can be. ...it starts with you. what you allow to rule you. or not at all.
stay in control.
YES! CS Lewis would also say that the Good is a sheet of piano music. Our instincts (anger, lust, greed, joy, grace) are all keys. No key is wrong per say. They are played at the wrong times and contexts. You can rebel against the sheet music. And we try to master when we hit the keys. No fumbles. Self control.
I've experienced this many times, and it's what makes me so different than my dad, my dad chooses to get angry when something doesn't go his way, accidental or not, and he always blames whoever was responsible, saying that they deserve it, and yet he's absolutely miserable and always mad, that isn't the life I want to live, I've been hurt many times, some of those times even resulting in trips to the hospital, but what's the point in getting mad, mistakes happen and in my opinion the only way forward is one of understanding
Good is not merely a "point of view." There are certain things that are right and that are wrong, and they will always be so, no matter what type of spin you try to put on it.
Darn right
Why? Say who?
I'm unsure, It's nice to save a puppy from getting run over but is it GOOD if you're only doing it to impress someone? Maybe so
Extremely well-put. While there is always nuance to every situation... sometimes we need to step back and realize, good really is just that simple most of the time.
"The sage is good to those who are good. He is also good to those who are not good. That is the virtue of good." - Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Yes! So glad you found value in this. You might like the newsletter form of what we do. Thats over at geekystoics.com and is free. Sort of inspires what we create here for UA-cam
I agree with your main point. I will say however, that self-care and grooming, or lack there of, isn't really good or evil. You do it for yourself. It's not altruistic or malicious.
Fair and true! I tried to make the bulk of my comment there about civil discourse at a table haha
I clicked on this video with no expectations - just killing time. Boy am I a glad I did! Brilliant! One of this best philosophical discourses on Star Wars I’ve ever heard.
that means a lot thank you! You might like the newsletter form of what we do, over at geekystoics.com, and is free. It inspires what we create here for UA-cam
The sith are evil. The jedi are a failed attempt at good
ding ding ding! You got it haha - Stephen
@@GeekyStoicsloved your video btw Subscription earned 👍
@@downwardsaerial2239 WIZARD! Thanks for coming along with us
And where it gets fuzzy is that the Jedi's failed attempt at being good is that they tended to reject good qualities which the Sith then co-opted, seeing them exactly like the Jedi did.
Ultimately though the prequels have shown, bad or not, good or not-The Jedi philosophy is either flawed or has become flawed-I actually find it hard to believe that the Jedi lasted successfully for thousands of years. I find it equally implausible that the Republic lasted so long.
There is a Simple Way to Tell the Difference Between Good and Bad. Good is Selfless and Loves Unconditionally, Evil is Selfish and it's Love is Highly Conditional if it has Love at All.
yes!
Whenever we communicate (which is probably pretty much always,) we outline a world, and put other people in that framework. Not intentionally, usually, and it’s often the recipient who does most of that work by putting themselves into the framework they perceive us to be presenting.
When a human asks another human why they did something, that’s a type of question that will often be interpreted as at least a little confrontational; an accusation. It doesn’t matter if anyone considers the action good or bad. The recipient of that question will often get defensive.
The reason it may seem like people don’t feel the need to defend good actions, is because they are rarely questioned.
And the reason it makes sense for me to refer to ‘good actions’ here, is because many actions are culturally defined as good. And what becomes culturally defined as good, are the things that are good* for the culture to define as good; the things that propagate or preserve the culture.
*I choose to use the word ‘good’ in this specific instance to mean ‘getting what you want’.
Defining something as good, turns it into a kind of intrinsic reward. Humans are so abstract. They can just put a positive connotation onto anything, and feel good* about it.
*I choose to use the word ‘good’ here to mean something like ‘happy, pleasant, free from pain, rewarded, righteous, etc.’ That’s a value judgment. Why is it good to be happy? For society, it’ll probably increase productivity, and decrease opposition and desire for change. Is that good?
As for the individual… there are many things I could say about it, but I wouldn’t get any deeper. Humans don’t make sense. Nothing does, when examined. All meaning is constructed.
Well said. The objective good he refers to as such, is just our innate drive to belong with and defend our base group. It's the same feeling for all of us, but we define what giving into and following the feeling means. For it to make sense we apply alot of inferences to frame it, thus in this constructed knowing it gives us a sense of relief when the defined task is met but where we fail to impose an answer on it it causes anxiety.
Hi! First of all, thanks for the good quality discussion,
I disagree with the point being made (which, if I understood right, is moral realism). The two main arguments in favor of it seem to be that (1) we are born with some good behaviors and judgments, and that (2) all societies in history make some judgements, e.g. don't celebrate backstabbing. I don't know about number 1, have we ever raised children isolated from any culture and checked if they behave righteously? Regarding 2, it is a strong argument, but it could be explained in terms of group selection: maybe, long ago, there did exist societies which celebrated backstabbing, but they back-stabbed themselves to death. That would mean that some behaviors would be biologically set in individuals as "the natural good", yes, but it is also a manifestation of a society being self-serving, wanting to have a culture which makes it stronger against competing societies.
Anyway, excited to hear opposing views well argued, gonna subscribe for more.
Really appreciate you engaging on this and the sub. Lots to get into! We host conversations on Discord and Google Hangouts for subscribers of the newsletter, geekystoics.com
7:35 is not true at all. If you know everyone will disagree with you, and beat you up, for the thing you consider good, you are likely to conceal it.
While, no, what is said at 7:35 isn’t entirely untrue and it is a very possible explanation for that type of concealment, I agree with your point as well. It is very possible to hide something simply because you know it will end badly for you if you expose it, and not because you instinctively know it’s morally wrong.
Isn't it more accurate to say that instead of being born with good and evil inside us we are instead born with an innate understanding of "fairness" and "unfairness" (which has been shown by the monkey grape experiment where the monkeys got mad when they saw other monkeys get the good food while they got the bad)? Seeing others getting harmed unjustly and feeling upset for them could be our empathy applying our desire to not get punked to others making us not want others to get punked.
Yes! That is the claim CS Lewis makes almost exactly. We take that same view with a little different verbiage.
Being fair, we could attribute some more f this to evolutionary traits, such as helping out the group to be a more productive member do you survive longer.
But I'll ponder this more ❤
Recommend reading chapter 2 of this essay by CS Lewis, "Some Objections" - he talks a bit about if evolution or "herd instinct" is to account for our morals. Might be extra food for thought! steve4040.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/mere-christianity-by-cs-lewis.pdf
@@GeekyStoics Neat, thanks.
Great analysis video, mate! Was pleasant to hear the analysis points, especially regarding CS Lewis which was a new one to me. Good job 👍🏽
Hey, thank you for letting us know that. I too, was surprised to do a Star Wars and CS Lewis video, its just where my reading pointed me haha. Finding connections is a pleasant surprise
Awesome video, i think language also reveals out innate intuition of good and evil as well. For example, you will here wars being described as justified but no one will say they are good.
People will say it is good to give to the poor but no one uses the word justified to describe charity.
yes!! a worthy analogy for thinking about this. thank you
@@GeekyStoics np, thank you for making awesome content!
@@Abuhan47
Wars are aknowledged as neccesary evils, thus it doesn't follow anyone would call them good. There's already mass concencus that violence isn't good and such large scale mass violence isn't good regardless of their justification to need to take place.
No one uses the word justified in charity because it's not in our concensus to require justifying charity 🙄 and I don't think you feel it neccesary to enforce a burden to justify oneself to engage in charity and I'm sure you understand its because you already know "charity" as a concept. 🤷♂️
@@guytheincognito4186 I'm assuming from the emojis you're making some kind of argument but it seems like you just elaborated on what I just said.
@@Abuhan47
If you read it proper you would know for sure. Don't ask to have explained what is plainly written. And Quit pretending two inconsequential Emojis are that distracting from reading what I said. Pretending you can't read such a concise reply is taking credibility from you.
I care about honest discource and if this is your attempt to handwave, I'm disappointed.
Either you can read and aknowledge what I pointed out and Either accept the sound reasoning or you don't accept it.
Focusing on the Emoji to keep from making a direct response is Lazy. And no one likes the guy that makes a mountain out of it, in general on the internet. That's a red flag one wants to avoid in and of itself FYI.
Thx for the response, I'm looking forward to your next one. Good day.
I do believe that most of the time good and evil are clear and we humans inherently know right from wrong. But there are situations that are more gray areas, such as deciding to have an abortion if you know the baby won’t live a certain amount of time outside the womb, do you let it develop, give birth and watch it die, or do you abort in in mercy or whatever? Or, do you lie to your friends father who is going to beat your friend when he finds out where he is, etc. These sorts of situations are gray areas but whatever the decision, I think we must make the best decision possible. Right and wrong is usually clear, but not always. Good video.
so glad you liked it and gave you some food for thought
Holy crap what an amazing video. Usually these lower viewed philosophy videos are a bit janky and incoherent but this was incredible. You really made me think about my opinion on objective Good and Evil.
that is so great to hear! I am intimidated doing philosophy-ANYTHING so Im glad this felt tight and made sense. - Stephen
You two realize you're calling emotional intelligence and our empathic drive as objective good, don't you.
That's also not something that's not done many times before through out history of philosophical debate.
It's not objective and it's guided by our cooperative instincts toward one another as a social species. The good per se has form after the nurtured perceptions in each and everyones upbringing.
This impulsive good pushes us all with the same feeling(sense) into divergent action. Same sensory input, separete external outputs.
The same sense of good is what drives honor and honor killings of your own. You're following the same impulse to stay true to your family, "don't run, huddle together, protect" the same feeling that holds you from sacrificing your family for your own skin is the exact feeling that drives your swing of a sword to cut down an enemy on the battle field. The feeling of need to do right by your own, to belong, doesn't differentiate by the moment it's differentiated by your inferences.
That empathic bond to defend your base group doesn't inform your actions, your personal inferences on what following the feeling means, does.
Pointing to an natural unguided drive isn't particularly profound. Pointing to our innate empathy is good but we still are in the seat of neccesarily having to define what the best way of giving in and following this feeling is, as it doesn't define that on its own.
@@GeekyStoics Well done. I am an atheist who is a moral realist (someone who holds morality is objective though the correct term is moral realism). All my life I've seen Nihilism creep across our culture. Most people embrace it. Your video is well thought out and does a good job of explaining moral intuition within the naturalistic branch of moral realism. Whether you believe in god or not the intuition of our morality is accessible to us all.
Alex O Connor has changed his views on morality constantly as he doesn't think things out. He was an emotivist but after being challenged in metaethics he now still rejects morality but he doesn't know where he stands. He was a vegan but had to quit because he didn't plan out how that would go. Hes put on a pedestal for promoting Nihilism by a society that is already Nihilistic
4. On Morality
Authority vs Balance
a. The Morality of Pattern-Objectivity [Line Of Authority]
Authority coupled with Free-Will is Freedom formed by the heirarchy of The Pattern Of Creation. Pattern-Objectivity is the ultimate Morality that enables access to this free-will & freedom, but is not always accessible. Why? Because Authority is to Ethics which is Black & White & is suppose to be compatible with the black & white of science. It can only do this through line of authority earned through the natural heirarchy of The Pattern of Creation via the Merit of Free-Will. Therefore Knowledge & Definition are premised by Faith. Heirarchy is about self-determination & allows there to be a separation event to preserve this authority...this is the nature of Authority. Alternatives to this involve the circumventing of numbers & geometry & the failure to trace & form a non-crossing adherence. Why not Love & Balance? Because Love is the footstool of all the heirarchies of balance [due to force] & is preceded by Pattern-Objectivity in the process of The Pattern Of Creation. I choose black & white Pattern-Objectivity which leads me to 1 rule....The Pattern Of Creation. This choice becomes my paired instinct.
b. The Morality of Instinct/Conscience [Island Of Authority]
The "Little" Authority that is Prejudice. Prejudice is the nature of the Innate [meaning from birth]. It is the immutable pre-mortal [aka Apriori-Instinct] programming & the common-instinct of being moral so that one does not have to long-hand an explanation to themselves or another in order to make an argument. The Isms are the discipline instincts that incline us to favor certain patterns that are sensed to contribute to our well-being. This includes discriminatory isms as well. Taking a risk proves the instinct according to the different levels of action. This includes running away because one must still be brave enough to face ancestors....but that's picking a fight with them now isn't it....
c. The Morality of Love/Everyman-Fallacy/Dogma-Inclusivity [also balance]
The incomplete & dogmatic argument that love is all one needs & that power is plentiful because of it, therefore there are to be no restrictions on identity & behavior that are not a continuity of The Pattern of Creation. It means that Love is imperfect.
d. The Morality of Balance/The Flip-Flop Conspiracy/Falling-Circumspection
Balance has nothing to do with morality, except as Enforcement of Ethics & is Pressure-Based. Balance claims to be a means of gambling to guess the "right" thing to do by trying it all to acquire an experience. Does the means justify the end or does the end justify the means, or both? Or the "Golden Rule". It's a question of balance. Ultimately one might think both the means & the end were justified if they formed The Pattern Of Creation, but "Balance" thought to cause semantics to "jump-start" the creation process again. Love [also known as Faith] makes the same argument, but without the long process & dialogue [sortof like sex]. In addition Equality which balance is attributed to, can fend for itself if God intended all souls to be equal, but is oft times used as an argument to gain a foot-hold in an immoral attempt at controlling heirarchy. Evil does not know how to exist in silence, because God spoke. The presence of an equation is the sign of a conflict that needs to be reconciled & some equations were never meant to be solved. No one wants Equality except for when claims match facts.
thank you
Star Wars' murkiest take on morality can be found in Kotor 2 and I highly recommend everybody play it. It views the light side(enlightenment) as altruism and the dark side as egoism. Two extremes that destroys life to enhance life. Altruism weakens the individual to strengthen the whole, and egoism strengthens the individual at the cost of the whole. You can largely be an egoist while still getting the light side ending and help so many people while getting the dark side ending. All of this is to say good is a point of view and Star Wars exited black and white morality ever since Empire came out.
There this amazing hour long Kreia philosophy video here somewhere. Incredible journey that game.
@@GeekyStoics I've seen it like 40 times lol, will never be tired of analyzing that game.
Do what thou wilt. Is the whole of the law. Love is the law, love under will. ---- Alistair Crowley
This is often quoted as an evil doctrine. But this is literally what you're describing in this video.
Quiet your mind and listen to your heart, we all know what is right. For us.
The key distinction here is that your video implies that all humans have the same values. Crowley acknowledges that people have different views.
Why are you here? What are you here for? Quiet your mind, and you'll find that drive that makes life worth living.
Beautiful!
I also do not normally comment, but I really appreciate what you guys are doing. Also, thanks for the excellent Christmas card! This is the way.
I never normally comment on videos but just wanted to say I found this interesting. Keep up the great work Stephen and Riley
hey thank you!!
We innately know it is wrong to kill, steal, rape, lie, betray, and so on. But it is defining the situation as such good or bad action. Is war justified or is it killing on a large scale? Is taxation justified or is it theft? Is surveillance justified protection or invasion of privacy.? Must there be a spoken or written consent from both people before any sexual act otherwise would it be considered rape? Someone in is born in or lives under an authoritarian state and tries to escape to a better life would that be considered a traitor? Or the classic if your friend is hiding from an axe carrying crazy person and would you lie to the crazy person to protect your friend?
5:58 Live to fight another day.
Great videos!
Thank you for doing what you do!
Just ordered your book👍🏼
amaazing! Cant wait to hear what you think of it. Leave a review? Thank yooooou
@@GeekyStoics your book just arrived yesterday, so I put Steven King’s “dark tower” book series on pause and I will definitely leave a review after reading👍🏼
Incredible video - got me thinking
heck yeah! glad it did
High republic Jedi were actually the good guys. The new Jedi were too involved with the representative government. They followed the arbitrary “will of the people.” rather than following the will of the force.
completely agree that the Jedi lost the plot when they linked The Republic with The Light and sought up hold one in the name of the other -- Stephen
@@GeekyStoics agreed, great video btw, this this seems to be the best “starwars philosophy.” channel.
@@Iustusxi we're trying! come join us also at geekystoics.com where most of this is written before videos come out
@@GeekyStoicsalso, I wouldn’t put too much stock in the sequel trilogy and the stuff Luke was saying there. It is a far cry from what Lucas and Star Wars had originally setup thematically. The light and the dark seek balance and a true Jedi serves the Force aka the good side. A Sith who gives into the dark side and weaponizes it like Sidious essentially is a cancer that corrupts and goes against the very will of the Force. Therefore it’s not a Jedi vs Sith ideological fallacy, it’s that combat the Dark side and the Sith the Jedi need to accept the dark as a natural part of oneself in order to overcome it.
Great channel and video, how are you so small? Good luck!
just getting started!! we operate mainly as a Substack, GeekyStoics dot com - the videos come from the articles we publish there for the newsletter. Podcasts as well anywhere you get pods. 2024 we up our video game - Stephen
There is true good (i'm a christian) but i feel like star wars shows us how from our own personal experiences, anything could be considered "good" showing our capability to do great evil. Which i think is correct because we are all sinful without the goodness of God
"Nobody trys to hide right action," They do if they A) are afraid of getting cancled, or B) are trying to be humble.
And just because it feels like the right thing to do, dosn't allways mean it is either. Good intentions can pave the way to Hell.
GREAT VIDEO & SUBJECT MATTER...I think the fundamental difference between the Light Side, which represents good and is used by the Jedi, and the Dark Side, which represents evil and is used by the Sith, is that the Dark Side is like an all-out 100-meter dash/sprint on cocaine , 5 expressos and 10 Redbulls; it's really impressive but it's never long-lasting; it either consumes and destroys you and /or everything and everyone around you. And even if you have managed to live a long life such as Palpatine using it, you can never transcend your mortal life unlike Light Side users. The Light Side is similar to a marathon; it takes more time to get to your destination, it requires more self-control (temperance) because if you don't pace yourself, you'll gas out. So with the Dark Side, you get powerful very fast but that power eventually consumes you to the point of self-destruction, which is why the Sith ended up fighting among themselves which led to the rule of 2. Unlike the Dark Side, the Light Side is predicated on virtue: you need to be patient (not knee-jerk rashness) like most Sith with the exception of Palpatine and a few other in history and still, their patience was never true patience because it was predicated on deceit and dishonesty), brave (not reckless), level-headed/tempered (Hot-headed and out of control), prudent and wise (not cunningly Machiavellian) to stay in the marathon race and reach your full potential. To cultivate virtue and, as the video says, make prudent decisions, one needs to rely on reason and not emotionalism, and one cannot think clearly when one is being led by his base-emotions which is the trademark of the Sith. This is what Yoda meant when he told Luke that he would eventually be able to tell the difference between right and wrong but only through calmness, which comes with trial-and-error and maturity (which he lacked at that point).That said, although a code/precepts/principles/dogmas/doctrine is important, especially at a younger age when an inexperienced individual is in training (learning), it/they should be seen as guidelines and not as an absolute that enslave(s) you to the point of dogmatic rigidity, which is what sadly had happened to the Jedi. That is why the concept of the "Grey Jedi" emerged after Qui-Gon Jinn; he was a Light Side user but he did not allow the Jedi Code to restrict or prevent his growth and understanding of the (living) Force. That said, some fans have implied that Grey Jedi could use the Dark Side without falling into it but that is wrong as it would blur the lines between good and evil ( the end does not justify the means/ necessary evil) on top of being a direct contradiction in regard to the warning Yoda gave Luke about giving in just once to the Dark Side ("forever will it dominate your destiny)
Lots to think about with this comment, thank you!! Agree about the espressos and redbull big time. It's a false charge. You might like the newsletter form of what we do. Thats over at geekystoics.com and is free. Inspires what we create here for UA-cam
Thank you. I'll look into it. Keep up the good work and thanks for the feedback@@GeekyStoics
Sorry, but extended legends comics and novels to Dark Horse : Legacy era comics, ..
Palpatine spiritual transcend as a force ghost, .. much to Leia cringe.
As for Canon, that is something Catholics and protestants argue about.
Even Kenobi & Yoda becoming One with the Force is from Greek/Roman myths.
As for current occult teaches and Xtian propaganda of summoning astral spirits/demons or .. gods .. that transcends time & space.
It is all a bunch of made-up stories, with millions of people arguing over and about .. made up stories.
I just want to see the redemption of an ‘evil’ character in Star Wars who then has to live with the struggle of what they did in the past (kylo but survives) it’s always the opposite
Really good content 👌
wonderful discourse.
Thanks! -Riley
right and wrong, good and evil are entirely human inventions. there's no higher law or power in nature that dictates morality, that's just an idea we have invented to justify our ideas of good and evil, right and wrong, which are actually quite different between time periods and cultures. but crucially, we're the only ones who care. look at nature, the wolf isn't good or evil for killing a sheep, and neither do any of them care. what one might call our innate ability to tell good from evil is better described as instinct, our deepest and most primal behaviours that we developed as animals to function better in our environment. with any other animal, we don't call their instinctual social behaviours and rules morality, we only do that for ourselves. but beyond ourselves, nobody and nothing out there cares if we do something good or evil, because those concepts don't exist, and neither does anything beyond ourselves to enforce them.
just curious, and we appreciate your comment here, what was the killing of the Younglings? Just another day and a deed equivalent to stealing some Blue Milk from Dax's Diner?
Wrong on so many levels. First of all - there are evil animals. There were wolves that snatched children and needed to be put down. It was common in europe. It's the same with basically everything. So if you got that wrong your whole point doesnt make any logical sense.
There were also other "tribes" of wolves that didnt do it. Why did it happen? Maybe some guy in france fed his dead kids to wolves. Evil creates evil.
That youngling chose the worst time to remind Anakin the Council unanimously voted to deny him the rank of Master ...
yea, I dont really believe we are born knowing right and wrong, more so we are born selfish and only worry about ourselves, but we mature as we grow older and realize that other people have feelings as we do, and so thats where the saying comes from “we treat others the way we would want to be treated” its a saying that is taught to us in school really really early for a reason. we arent born knowing right from wrong, we are taught it, very early in fact because of this.
New video posted today, May the Force be with you all ua-cam.com/video/r-4XHK-l26Y/v-deo.html
What the heck does proper self-grooming have to do with morality?
I think what he means is if this person believes there is no right or wrong then why would he be grooming himself in the way society dictates is right
personally I think this is part of the nature vs nurture debate, OP seems to imply this is all nature based on some sort of innate human sense of what is good (in this case good grooming). personally though considering the many differing trends in fashion through the years(,decades,centuries) I would argue that this must be largely nurture based
Haha a valid question! I wasnt sure whether to put that part in, but Im aiming to make the point that everyone has views of what constitute “good” things. Watch their behavior. Why does he groom? Why does he not stay in bed all day? Why does he go to college and read books? Because he does actually have a sense of what is an objectively good way to be. Moral relativists love the idea of subjectivity in all
Things, but dont behave that way.
@@GeekyStoics
He like everyone else has a sense of what is good and bad. That's what the interview were about and his grooming is one aspect out of a collection of traits he holds as good that aligns with most societies ideas on grooming.
But it's not warrant to arbitrarily phrase it as having a sense of 'objective good. Many areas of the world wouldn't consider his subjective good of grooming this way to be good at all but heretical. Not just mixing fabrics or using unnatural fabrics but because he doesn't have a full and thick beard all the time. To the Muslims that beard is an objective good.
You need to understand that just because relativism doesn't accept there's a true good or evil way of doing things, relativism hasn't ever said people do not carry their own sense of what is good and bad, it says they do and so according to the individuals needs and goals within a preset system of societal ethics.
Taking peoples individual sense of what is good for them as some sort of tacit admission towards a true good is Ignorant.
Nor is calling this variable sense objective Warranted.
just wow
"I said your Mamma's so fat Jabba the Hut said DAMMMMMMMMMMMMN"
thank you for that
wow that’s a lot good vid
Thank you!!
Yes I like to test okay thanks
Ooook
JBP ought to have y'all on his podcast...and if you find 'em too religion-y or 'Gawd'-focused well, he's had convos with Alex O'Connor, Michael Shermer, Lawrence Krauss, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Stephen Fry, Robert Trivers and others of such disparate inclination. Anyway he just seems to expose himself a lot to various other minds on matters of meaning and it would be cool if y'all were able to be the guests on some future episode among the now countless others who include notables (IMO) like John Vervaeke, Jonathan Pageau, Robert Greene...
we would love that. JBP would also really like Stephen Kent's book "How The Force Can Fix The World" --- leave this suggestion in his comments will ya? Maybe he'll see it
Good is a point of view & always has been ✅.
Palpatine for e.g. was doing nothing but exposing who the Jedi under Yoda’s leadership truly was.
He never really lied about anything to him , he even was honest about not being able to “Cheat death” currently but give him time & he will figure it out because that knowledge has been lost to time.
The guy was manipulating things to his design for his sith grand plan yes but overall palpatine actually gave a f*ck about Anakin/Vader & would have even more if he succeeded in his mission to defeat Kenobi on Mustafar ☝🏾.
The Jedi was using him from day one & the sith just wanted him to do a few things then he could live a life of more or less luxury up to a certain point.
Great video tho you need to read Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche. I think it would do your video justice, people try to justify the Jedi order tho they championed the republic and strayed away from the principles. Genocide on indigenous worlds for pirate trade systems is not good, Yoda telling Luke to kill Vader tho it’s not the way to defeat him, is not good. Cloning attack dogs to dispose of is not good. Lucas made it grey for interpretation on purpose.
This makes sense just like the Nazi Einstazgruppen had the highest rate of depression and suicide because of all the wonton killing they were doing.
I think both perpectives on the moral compass is correct and wrong. Morality is a naunced topic. There is some black and white to morality, but at the same time when speaking on larger concepts such as a person or group of people there is rarely a true evil or pure good.
If you sacrifice your own comfort for others' well being you are good. If you sacrifice the well being of others for your own comfort you are evil. If you allow a pointless war to continue which kills thousands of civilians so you can get a cut of the military contracts you are a Democrat 😅
Good and evil are entirely subjective. This is a blatant fact. They are value judgements. And value is entirely relative to the eye of the beholder.
The majority believing in something and sharing common ground is not indicative of any truth. The vast majority of human history thought the Earth was flat. That doesn't make it so. The vast majority of humans believe in > insert completely disproven religion here. < The vast majority of humanity believes in blatantly illogical concepts, such as free will, etc. Majority belief means nothing.
And there are people like me, who have entirely different subjective moral systems from the common human, with me deeming probably around 99% of them as evil.
The reason most humans have vaguely similar ideas on morality (ignoring that they differ way more than you think) is because humans evolved as a social species to develop traits to help them work together to survive. That is all. And something being natural doesn't inherently make it good in my eyes. Giving birth for instance, is arguably the most evil act a human can do under my subjective moral system, since you're bringing someone into a horrible world where anything bad can happen to them, or even them being born disabled, etc. And they didn't ask to be here. Giving birth is "natural", but that doesn't make it not completely evil to me and the primary cause for all suffering still. And it is an objectively selfish action, with selfish being a trait and traits being an objective thing. Deeming traits as good or bad would be a moral thing and thus subjective.
Another uncommon moral view of mine would be that murder isn't bad depending on your reason and who you did it too. For instance, I do not care about the deaths of 99% of humanity because I deem them to be terrible for countless of reasons. If one kills them due to this thought process, then this is good in my eyes. Though, if one happens to kill who I deem evil for reasons I also deem evil, then their action is evil in my eyes, despite the result being good.
Despite this, all of my moral views are equally subjective as anyone else's. But people like me are living proof that there isn't even a universal morality (aka where all people inherently believe in the same fundamental morals). But even if there was, that wouldn't make it objective.
Furthermore, even if a god did exist, his moral views wouldn't be objectively moral. It'd just be yet another subjective set of values. Morals are based on feelings, not logic. There is nothing wrong with that. Every sentient being by default has some set of morals, but let's not pretend they are objective.
Lastly there's the argument of what "natural" even entails. One can argue everything, including our technology is natural, as it is built from natural resources. And all human personalities are natural, as they come from our natural minds or our natural environment and people around us. So even this already fallacious argument of natural objectively equals good doesn't hold up especially when considering this.
As for the meaning of life, there is none. It is yet another subjective thing. You make your own meaning. If it matters to you, then that's all that matters as far as you're concerned.
There are objective things in reality, but morality, meaning, etc. are objectively subjective.
If you want better views on the force, look at the EU of Star Wars, which is far superior to just the movies or the Disney canon. Pre-recton KoTOR 1 and 2, hell, even post-recton SWTOR are great examples of more proper views of the force.
And if you want any remotely proper understanding of reality, don't look to religion.
"Well that's just like, you're opinion, man"
I would venture to report negative valence categorically declares itself of inherent logical import [to resolve], and that, basically, for any given cosmic configuration [which we all are; every entity that can enter that state space, is an entity in, and part of, the system of the universe], unreconciled 'torture' be bad, mmkay. But no, that's just the same as a color preference, right, or preferences period, yeah? C'mon. Switch to hardcore mode, no BS-ing.
Your statement that "good and evil are entirely subjective" is entirely subjective. There you're convinced of your error, eh? Lol...Seriously I can play that game and probably better than you (not to denigrate that you're not being serious or are playing a facade, I have no suspicion of that). I just mean to say, your line of argument is not as carbide bullet-proof as you seem to believe
Others such as Sam Harris (for example, and albiet imperfectly) have articulated coherent views of an ontologically valid axiological bedrock, and yes it is inextricably linked to sentients/sentience, though not simply a subjective arbitrary nihilism cope (or whatever you would like to call it - some selected spin someone runs off of a baseline 'because nothing' in their 'motive [non]logic' structure).
I'm by no means a master here, but I would argue as follows. Self-discipline, stamina and strength of the spirit overcoming suffering with honesty and compassion (thru pain, patience, lots of experiential learning, transformation), is closely tied to good. There are numerous loci that I could point to including surely some better than this as foci here but, a YT short that populated in my mind worthy of mention - titled "Good" (on 'Jocko Podcast' channel) - can provide a relatively decent sketch of this so-called 'good' that is being referred to here
As for the rest of your comment, that's the easy explanations any atheistic, agnostic, ignostic (as I am, and am also foundherentist-ish, fallibilistic probabilist, and highly versed, familiarized with the relevant bits such as logical fallacies and logic broadly as it critically relates in these matters, epistemology, cognitive biases, the modern scientific methodology, healthy skepticism, etc.), or similar such secular person could render without much long, hard, real struggle and work...certainly nothing as a definitive proof or pointing to such, as you seem to pose it as...
I promise I’m not trying to be a fun-sucker or mean-spirited with this comment 😅 Overall, I like Star Wars, but the story is designed to be simple and enjoyable young adult fiction for the whole family. It’s not philosophy. Good and evil and morality are always a relative point of view. The irony is that Star Wars has the word “Wars” in the title, but it’s not about war, it’s not a story about soldiers and generals, and it doesn’t have a “war is hell” outlook until Andor. War is fueled by the selfishness of leaders, bias and prejudice, or a set of beliefs that are in opposition with an enemy’s beliefs. Characters in Star Wars fight for good and evil with good multi-colored lightsabers and bad red lightsabers, but almost never for a cause. That’s why Star Wars stories struggle so much when it deviates from the default plot of rebels versus an empire. That silly conversation they have in Clerks could have literally been the plot of a sequel trilogy about fighting for a cause: the villains are radicalized to be pro-Empire (a lost cause) because they are all related to family members who were stormtroopers, engineers, and cooks (and yes, contractors!) on the Death Star destroyed in A New Hope or on the partially-built Death Star destroyed in Return of the Jedi. An older Leia could have been written as an anti-hero Chancellor who installs a police state on Coruscant and former imperial planets. Why? Because the Empire destroyed her home planet of Alderaan right in front of her. “Remember Alderaan!” could have been her battle cry. Because morality is relative and subjective. Difficult moral dilemmas and defending the consequences of those choices are what determine how we perceive good versus evil. “Your focus determines your reality.” - Qui-Gon Jinn
George Lucas has an in-depth understanding of mythology thanks to the classes he took in college. He’s also the poster-child of an ignorant generation of youth who couldn't help but cling to outdated themes of good versus evil in their Westerns and in their Flash Gordan episodes. He has absolutely no understanding of philosophy, history, or political science. Lucas would categorize Machiavellian “the ends justify the means” thinking as being Sith-esque, but doesn’t that concept perfectly describe destroying both Death Stars? The heroes shoot, stab, and slaughter Stormtroopers left and right, but then the villains who command them must be redeemed. Why? Coruscant and most of the galaxy is diverse, but the Empire seems to be made up of only humans. Is that an intentional reference to intolerance? Yes, I know, Palpatine having a crazy manifesto and ending a trilogy with Nuremburg trials would suck the fun out of a blockbuster, but remember… Lucas wanted the original trilogy to have a Vietnam War vibe, which it doesn’t. And he wanted the prequels to have a democracy to despotism storyline, which it barely has (the transition happens at the end without any reaction from the people). And then he wanted… to sell the franchise. Lucas even specified once that those “contractors” who were building the second Death Star would have probably been Geonosians, since the designs are briefly shown at the end of Attack of the Clones. He then said the clerks were worried about “a bunch of large termites.” Sounds like something a Sith would say. Or, “the ability to speak does not make you intelligent.” - Qui-Gon Jinn
Actually, everything is philosophy. Every single piece of creation is informed by a way of thinking and reflects the values of someone who created it. Without exception. Star Wars is family entertainment, and it also means something. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is fairy tale reading at the 5th grade level, and also a fictional spin on Natural Law theory which you could get a PhD studying. But the story of Narnia gives you the first stepping stone. Star Wars is that. And George Lucas has said it plenty, on the days he's not using "its a kids movie" to defend it from critics. He switches when it suits him lol.
@@GeekyStoics I suppose! The part you wrote about the first stepping stone is why both the sci-fi/fantasy genre and YA fiction have value. And Star Wars certainly has more philosophical elements than Michael Bay's Transformers films! lol It's not my intention to rain on the parade and critique the movies in a cynical way (The Clerks example just came to mind as a fun rebuttal/moral dilemma). I do love the Star Wars setting and I stop by the Star Wars YT channels every now and then out of curiosity. The Empire Strikes Back and Andor are the two Star Wars stories that have the most meaning to me. If someone finds meaning in the prequels, then they're not "wrong." It's all subjective, which is my point with the post. Star Wars fandom online over the last 10 years has just spiraled into a weird place and that's unfortunate. Fandom is supposed unite folks and not divide them.
@@brandoncooley9967 oh you’re all good. No rain!
@@brandoncooley9967 come give us a try over at geekystoics.com / you might appreciate some of the writing and find it uplifting for that battle with cynicism :)
Celibacy is a road to the dark side , just look what it did to the jedi .
No nookie led to the destruction of the Republic , and darkness for the galaxy .
Ashes to ashes , dust to dust .
If you don't whip it out and get it wet , it is gonna rust .
There is no philosophy here. Look at the fruit. Anakin lost everything instead of gaining everything. Case closed. Evil destroys, good creates. Can you imagine palpatine taking care of living and weak being? Being a flower or an animal?
I cannot imagine that, no!
There is always good and evil but it all about the people choices to do good or evil let’s face it no matter how flawed the Jedi was they were right for not trusting Palpatine he is a Sith Lord in the end of day needs to be stopped. Also best not take any words from the TLJ Luke seriously that version of him wasn’t in his right mind because balance of the force in the light side while the dark side is corrupted and the unbalance.
To be fair George Lucas and that's how I prefer balance personally has said balance means the extinction of dark side users though the dark side is not evil. Great video btw
ua-cam.com/video/wiImoO5QkcA/v-deo.htmlsi=kGXse0iafEu8Imdq
So glad you liked it!!
The only laws I obey are the laws of physics.
Good luck with that
Objective morality doesn’t exist imo. There is no “right” or “wrong” because morality is, innately, subjective. What’s more, I’d argue that morality can’t even be classified in true or false statements, and rather is feelings of disapproval or approval for a set of actions.
Can you elaborate on that view a bit? I've been interested in moral expressivism ever since I learned of its existence, but never actually met anyone who holds it.
@@samueldimmock694 I find this better to show someone by asking a series of questions of them
essentially, everyone always argues what actions or “right” and “wrong” but what exactly does being morally “right” entail? People say we “should” do this or that, but what does “Should” even mean? And why “should” we do things that are morally right?
@@h20dynamoisdawae37 That does seem to be the best way of figuring out what morality actually is. I've tried following that line of reasoning before, and arrived at moral realism, but I did it by myself, not with another person, so I may have missed something.
@@samueldimmock694 moral realism is objective morality, right?
@@h20dynamoisdawae37 Yeah.
Wow I was enjoying this till you included the high budget fanfiction. Nothing of Disney Star Wars and their version of balance is real Star Wars. In George Lucas’s eyes, balance means total victory of the light side. From disneys point of view, they take it to mean half Jedi half sith. Not even Revan style either, just simpy grey Jedi. I’d say don’t call me a bigot but I’m hard shadowbanned, so if you read this congrats! You prolly are too 💀
I can hear you trying to stay brainwashed.