Star Wars and Massacre

In the reading by Nagel, “War and Massacre” two concepts of justification for war or harm are defined at length, that of utilitarianism and absolutism. Utilitarianism on the surface is more easily defined, and therefore more widely accepted as a basic concept: maximize the good, and minimize the evil when it concerns what may happen because of one’s actions. Thereby, even when intending harm, one may justify one’s evil by the good one does, and remain morally acceptable. This justification is accepted in our warfare as allowable killing of noncombatants or civilians for the “greater good” of some gain measure worth more than their lives, ie the statistical likelihood of killing guerrilla fighters or the necessity of torture. However, the absolutist will not allow for justification, for the allowance of killing as a good action taken. The absolutist restricts utilitarianism, saying, “You cannot justify your evil action as something good; it is still evil, and you are not on the moral high ground.” There is no arguing over what is justified good, what life is worth more, instead only direct violence to one another is the appropriate warfare. Direct action means no harm to those not your direct opponent, and there is no justification of torture as only the loss of life may be weighed against another’s life, not the nebulous concept of possible murders in the future. The absolutist still agrees with the maximizing good concept, yet places limits on what may be justified, and that murder still remains murder, never becoming a “necessary evil” as this disrespects the existence of the human being.

In summary, now with these concepts again defined, I hope to compare this logic to that of Princess Leia (and/or the Rebel Alliance) and Grand Moff Tarkin (and/or the Imperial Empire) in Star Wars: A New Hope. Nagel’s utilitarian description can be fitted to the Empire, if “good” is assumed as “benefit for myself and my allies” and Princess Leia can be prescribed as an absolutist, in most respects. This is best represented in the beginning references to Princess Leia’s torture, and subsequently the destruction of Alderaan. The reasoning for Leia’s torture by Darth Vader is for information—for the good of the Empire, they need the location of the rebel base—and is a near exact replica of the utilitarian argument for torture. The evil of torture is justified by the greater benefit of this information. As she rebels, they finally ascribe to “alternative forms of persuasion” as said by Tarkin, aka threatening to destroy Alderaan with the Death Star. The destruction of Alderaan is indirect action, as Alderaan is a declared neutral planet, with its primary residents civilians. By law of the absolutist, which Leia here argues in fear, they are not to be targeted. There is no benefit that justifies the massacre of her people, not even the location of the rebel base—or so an absolutist would say, as Princess Leia does.

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Here there is a stark contrast of justified massacre of civilians, who are described by Tarkin as taking part still in the conflict by her association, thereby connected and deserving death, versus Leia’s pleas for whom she defines quite oppositely as neutral, undeserving of death. This can be compared directly to the justifiable use of atomic weapons as in World War II. One party stands to lose millions of innocent civilians for a purpose that seems unjustifiable, that of lowering morale, wherein the other party declares those same civilians as guilty, and perfectly acceptable losses in the face of millions of possible deaths – this is the argument for the nuclear bomb drop of Hiroshima. The opening crawl of Star Wars draws this direct line, “ultimate weapon….with the power to destroy an entire planet,” between the nuclear bomb and the Death Star, only exaggerated to planetary scale for a more horrifying reaction.

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Within these moments, the line between the evil and the good is drawn. The absolutist is good, and the utilitarian is evil (though less refined as Nagel’s analysis) is the basic assumption of the Star Wars conflict between Empire and Rebel,  philosophically speaking.

Extra Links for Fun:
"The Real History that Inspired Star Wars"
"Star Wars Theme Medley Sung by the Cast of The Force Awakens (+The Roots, Jimmy Fallon)"
"Star Wars in 99 Seconds" (with clips from movies) [SPOILERS]
"Star Wars in 99 Seconds" (original) [SPOILERS]
"Darth Jar Jar Theory Explained"