[member="Corvus Raaf"]
Phylis felt instantly more relaxed and intrigued. Philosophy and esoteric debates? That was something she could (and sometimes did) discuss for hours.
“Hmmph, the Potentium, hmm?” she asked. As she tended to when speaking, she wandered around the room, waving her hands for good effect as she spoke. It put one in mind of a hyperactive stork.
“It is basically the view that there is no Dark Side and no Light Side inherently, that it is one’s actions that make one Dark. It is a heresy which the Old Republic evicted, and which briefly the New Jedi Order embraced before returning to the old ways. It is a curious mix of philosophical revisionism and a healthy dose of rebellion too.”
“My views? Well, it is of course correct in one sense – one’s actions do shape their destiny – however I feel it errs on several levels. For a start, let us consider that the foremost proponents of it ended, ironically, falling to the Dark Side. An amusing twist which shows that when you abandon your moral standing for expediency nothing good will come of it.”
“The main argument for the Potentium is what I will loosely call ‘common sense’. If there is a Dark Side then surely that means that certain actions and intentions are objectively ‘bad’, yes? Hmm, when so much good and evil is described as mere matters of perspective; terrorist vs freedom fighter, surely we cannot objectively class something as ‘Dark’?”
“This view is misguided for several reasons. Firstly, it takes moral relativism too far and applies it not just to sentient actions, but to an omnipresent energy field. Such trifles are not something which the Force is able to discuss and debate like this were a discussion circle. No, there are objectively Dark and objectively Light actions when it applies to the Force. The creation, protection and nurturing of life is an action of the Light; the destruction, corruption and harming of it is an action of the Dark. Lastly on this case, I draw your attention to Sith Alchemy and my Alkahest. Were things merely subjective, then these would not be able to retain their power. A user might be able to infuse an item with the Force, but were the Potentium correct these items would not maintain an independent alignment afterwards.”
“The second, less reliable argument, is that the Light and Dark is a conspiracy of the Jedi. That the Jedi interpreted the Force in this manner so that we would have a monopoly on controlling what is right, to the exclusion of all else. Hmmph, an absurd notion which barely needs refuting. Nevertheless, I am always tempted to ask – does anyone complain to the Sith for controlling a monopoly on evil? I dare say it would very much amuse a Sith Lord to be told as such!”
“Now, this is not to say that all those who are Dark are ‘evil’ or those who use the Light are ‘good’ from a moral standpoint. Here moral relativism does have a place. One can use the Dark Side without being evil, but to use the Dark Side they must perform actions or call on power which is destructive. To me, that the Dark and Light exist is not in question. All that is in question is how one chooses their path.”
She finally stopped. She’d circled the room four times and was now back before Corvus.
“Hmm, was there a reason you were asking, or was it merely curiosity? I do, hmm, tend to get fixated on such topics.”
