JASON T. EBERL is Professor of Health Care Ethics and Philosophy and Director of the Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics at Saint Louis University. He teaches and publishes on bioethics, medieval philosophy, and metaphysics. He is the editor of Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy, co-editor (w/ Kevin S. Decker) of The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy and The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy, as well as the original Star Wars and Philosophy and Star Trek and Philosophy, and co-editor (w/ George A. Dunn) of Sons of Anarchy and Philosophy and The Philosophy of Christopher Nolan.

KEVIN S. DECKER is Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Washington University near Spokane, Washington. There, he teaches ethics, Continental, and American philosophy. He is the co-editor (with Jason T. Eberl) of The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy and The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy and editor or co-editor of eight other anthologies of popular culture and philosophy. His book Who is Who? The Philosophy of Doctor Who was published by I.B. Tauris in 2013.

The Bad Batch viii

Introduction xviii

Part I Episodes I-III 1

1 "Another Solution Will Present Itself": The Phantom Menace, Daoism, and Doing without Trying 3
Russell P. Johnson

2 Bioethics Wars: Fear and Fallacy in Revenge of the Sith 11
Thomas D. Harter

3 "A Pathway to Many Abilities Some Consider to Be Unnatural": The Natural Law Ethics of Star Wars 20
Matthew Shea, Joel Archer, and Daniel Banning

4 Mothers, Daughters, Rebels: Women's Bodies in Star Wars 30
Aikaterini-Maria Lakka

Part II Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch 41

5 Order 66: The Fragility of Moral Autonomy in The Clone Wars 43
Timothy Challans

6 "Corporations Do Not Rule Us!": The Separatist Freedom Movement and the Struggle for Justice 52
Mohammed Shakibnia

7 "No One Rescues Droids": Rebels on Race and Racism 62
Steve Bein

8 Individuality and Identity: Are Clones Literally a "Band (or Batch) of Brothers"? 73
Patricia L. Brace

9 The Failure of Jedi Ethics: The Jedi Betrayal of Ahsoka 82
James Rocha and Mona Rocha

10 Of Graffiti and Kalikoris 90
Daniel P. Malloy

11 A Long Time Ago? Time and Time Travel in Star Wars 99
Philipp Berghofer

Part III Rogue One and Solo 109

12 Building the Death Star: Complicity in Moral Evil 111
Jason T. Eberl

13 "Rebellions Are Built on Hope": The Creative Democratic Force of Rogue One 122
Terrance MacMullan

14 Han Solo: The Corellian Evasion of Philosophy 132
Kevin S. Decker

15 Friendship, Love, and Sex with Droids in Solo: "How Would that Work?" "It Works" 143
Nick Munn and Dan Weijers

16 La L3-37 Continue: Droid Rights and the Problem of Legal Personhood 152
Joshua Jowitt

Part IV Episodes IV-VI 163

17 The Non-dualistic, Redemptive Metaphysics of the Jedi 165
Michael Baur

18 Just How Many "Lukes" Are There in A New Hope, Anyway? 174
Roy T. Cook and Nathan Kellen

19 Force and Geist: Hegel Watches The Empire Strikes Back 183
Umut Eldem

20 "I Know There Is Good in You": Luke, Anakin, and Confucian Filial Piety 192
Eric Yang

Part V The Mandalorian 199

21 Should You Eat Baby Yoda? 201
A.G. Holdier

22 Grogu's Little Way: The Binds of Power and the Bonds of Love in The Mandalorian 209
Jeffrey P. Bishop and Isabel Bishop

23 Beneath the Helmet, Beyond the Way: The Mandalorian and Moral Decision-making 218
Noam Ebner

24 Paradox of Faith: The Way of Din Djarin and Kierkegaard 228
Patrick Tiernan

25 Reading the Mind of Din Djarin: The Music of The Mandalorian 236
Lance Belluomini

Part VI Episodes VII-IX 245

26 Awakening Race, Culture, and Ethnicity in a Galaxy Far, Far Away 247
Edwardo Pérez

27 The Last Jedi's Despair: Did Episode VIII Ruin Luke Skywalker? 257
David Kyle Johnson

28 Deleuze, the Force of Becoming, and The Last Jedi 268
Corry Shores

29 Passionate Love, Platonic Love, and Force Love in Star Wars 276
James Lawler

30 The Rise of Rey Skywalker: The Importance of Community and Friends in Star Wars 284
James M. Okapal

Index 293