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kellylynnthomas's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
I never really enjoyed philosophy my philosophy classes in college, but this book made the field more accessible to me by putting the concepts and theories into Star Wars terms. It's a wide-ranging collection, and naturally some of the essays were better than others. I especially appreciated the closing essay on canon and meaning-making, but there were also good ones on language and whether or not droids can think.
The audiobook felt really slow, almost like the narrator had been slowed down. The volume was also rather low. It wasn't bad, but I had to increase the speed a bit and turn it up a lot so I could actually hear it!
The audiobook felt really slow, almost like the narrator had been slowed down. The volume was also rather low. It wasn't bad, but I had to increase the speed a bit and turn it up a lot so I could actually hear it!
zhelana's review against another edition
4.0
This book was really interesting, crossing over philosophers with Star Wars canon and even some non-canon Star Wars material. It included many of the most philosophers in history from Aristotle and Plato to Descartes, but also included some newer material that you've only heard of if you've made a concerted effort to study philosophy over the past 40 years that Star Wars has been out. Some of the newer topics of discussion include using action figures to develop a theory of mind and whether Lucas has the authority to tell us what is and isn't canon regarding some of our favorite stories that are now labeled AU (the book concludes that Lucas does not have this authority). We also discuss whether Wookiees have a real language, and whether droids are moral agents, and even what this means for Darth Vader who is mostly machine but still a little bit human.
I was quite impressed with this book, and have picked up another in the series, this one on Harry Potter. I hope it is as good.
I was quite impressed with this book, and have picked up another in the series, this one on Harry Potter. I hope it is as good.
altryhorn2's review against another edition
3.0
Don't read too much into this book. If you do, it might take away some of your enjoyment of Star Wars. After all, they are just movies and novels. This book takes the enjoyment to an unnecessary level.
vainnerj's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVE this book, I borrowed it from a library and will be buying it in the future. While having in depth knowledge of the Star Wars franchise is an added bonus, anyone can relate to the honest and plain way the authors breakdown fundamental philosophies.
mlarson92's review against another edition
2.0
I love Star Wars. It’s one of my favorite trilogies of all time - the originals of course (No special editions, please). The prequels and the sequels....those are another story, though prequel memes can be spicy.
My love of Star Wars and interest in philosophy made me pick up this book, which is a collection of essays written by a bunch of different academics. They identify scenes, characters, themes, etc. that align with the philosophies of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Kirkegaard, Campbell and others. The main stories focused on are the prequels, the OT, and some EU properties. The sequel trilogy had not yet been released upon publication, and honestly, there probably wasn’t much they could philosophize on from those anyway. Which leads to my next point: a lot of these essays seem to be a stretch.
In order to make some Star Wars elements align with some philosophical musings, was like putting a square peg in a round hole. While others made sense, others just seemed to be filler in a way, and some seemed like the writer had never seen Star Wars before. While some came off like some nerdy academic with a love of Decartes and Star Wars was asked to write an essay while feeling like it didn’t contribute much. It’s a mixed bag.
While there are good essays in this book, the whole thing can come off as “Philosophy for Dummies” with a sci-fi/fantasy candy coating. It’s just okay. If you’d like a quick overview of Plato and Aristotle while reading about your favorite space rebels, then go for it and have fun. But overall, it’s just okay, hence two stars.
May the Force be with you.
My love of Star Wars and interest in philosophy made me pick up this book, which is a collection of essays written by a bunch of different academics. They identify scenes, characters, themes, etc. that align with the philosophies of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Kirkegaard, Campbell and others. The main stories focused on are the prequels, the OT, and some EU properties. The sequel trilogy had not yet been released upon publication, and honestly, there probably wasn’t much they could philosophize on from those anyway. Which leads to my next point: a lot of these essays seem to be a stretch.
In order to make some Star Wars elements align with some philosophical musings, was like putting a square peg in a round hole. While others made sense, others just seemed to be filler in a way, and some seemed like the writer had never seen Star Wars before. While some came off like some nerdy academic with a love of Decartes and Star Wars was asked to write an essay while feeling like it didn’t contribute much. It’s a mixed bag.
While there are good essays in this book, the whole thing can come off as “Philosophy for Dummies” with a sci-fi/fantasy candy coating. It’s just okay. If you’d like a quick overview of Plato and Aristotle while reading about your favorite space rebels, then go for it and have fun. But overall, it’s just okay, hence two stars.
May the Force be with you.
srboris01's review against another edition
3.0
Entretenido, aunque algunos ensayos no me parecieron tan interesantes y otros requerían cierto nivel de conocimiento del antiguo universo expandido, los mejores ensayos son los iniciales, luego va perdiendo un poco de ese carácter entretenido
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