A Philosophy of Sithism

[Sarah Tintagyl]

The duty of philosophy is to give an accurate definition of the workings of a central ideology with its practices and beliefs. What a philosopher must then do is organize the ideology in a concise way so that our citizenry understand why they have joined the Sith and what can be achieved by contributing to the Order. A philosopher must also ensure that foreigners can understand who we are and what we represent without confusion and without the general prejudice that forms with the strength of our Order. To answer this, one question troubles my thoughts. What exactly is a Sith and Sithdom? A Sith is a creature that strives and metaphorically represents three principles: Passion, Strength, and Power. Immediately one can understand that we are no longer dealing with the travesties of the normal political or philosophical ideology, indeed we are dealing with something much greater, much more powerful. Those three words exist as the centerpiece of what consists of a Sith’s existence, however after reaching those goals, what becomes of us? What lies beyond that? The answer is virtue. Aristotle, Saint Augustine, and John Locke talked about an existence, a goal that lay at the root of all human existence, eventually leading to our flourishing as a species. This flourishing, Eudemonia, consisted of many things: faith, property, the right to live, and all things that lend to a person's freedom. This represents the same way that Passion, Strength, and Power define the Sith and how these principles give us freedom. The Sith strive to achieve these goals and by reaching them can flourish, and we can achieve our own Eudemonia - and it is this that which will separate us Sith from the others in this hostile world. In essence, there lies in front of us two realms of thought, one of virtue and one of waste, and only through the Principles of the Sith can one actually exist in the realm of virtue.

The greatest of human accomplishments were not completed without the desire of their creators, for men strive to outdo one another for fame, fortune, and wealth on an almost constant basis and it has caused wars, struggle, and conflict. However, desire has also produced the greatest wonders in cultural, scientific, and technological advancements of the world and all this is based on the competitions between ourselves. Passion lays at the center of this competition and the Sith have the drive to outperform their enemies and they have the drive to outperform their friends, which can then be harvested to develop a strong Order. We are all motivated and we all desire to have more than our enemies and friends, instead of shying away, and we take it upon as our duty to embrace this competition because competition is not evil. In fact, we owe it to ourselves and to our comrades to constantly inspire and challenge those around us so that we may - as a collective - achieve greater things. It is not passion alone that governs us but the passion of self and communal improvement through competition that sets us apart.

World accomplishments have been created by a variety of people from all walks of life. Man has built the world we live in through ability and our strength, which brings us to the second principle of the Sith: strength. Strength, like passion, involves the drive to begin improving ourselves, but where passion is the desire, strength is the will. We each have our individual passion, it is what we excel at, but to truly understand strength we must be willing to improve much more than our small desires. Strength is a quest, a quest to gain power. In building our strength we learn what we can accomplish and what we cannot. But for what cannot be accomplished we must pick ourselves up after the failures and try again, because though a Sith may encounter failure, a Sith must never encounter defeat, for only through victory can we have the strength to move on and herefore those that cannot complete their quests and fulfill their desires will eventually fall. This is why it is extremely important to always be seeking to build our strength through challenging ourselves and competing with who is around us.

I mentioned before that strength was a journey, a quest, and the end result of this journey is power. Power is the last step to reach virtue. Where this journey begins as a desire and a struggle to fulfill it, which leaves power as the final victory. Power is fame, fortune, wealth, and audience and what defines us as Sith. Without power we are failures because this is our only goal. Yet, there is such a thing as unbridled power, which is something that leads to the corruption of the mind, eventually leading to failure itself. With power comes virtue, which is the sense of Sithian Eudemonia and what calls us to the Sith path to begin with. When one sets out to achieve power there is a sense of honor, honor to ourselves and honor to our fellow Sith. Therefore after completing your quest and achieving your power, only through your virtue can a fellow Sith see what kind of Sith you truly are. Virtue only exists when power is combined with intelligence.

Eudemonia is much more however than just passion, strength, power, and virtue - those are what defines us - but how do we define ourselves? Firstly, the Sith are not evil. This is a common misconception by both outsiders and ourselves. People look at Sithdom and regard our power as evil. It is perceived that we came to power through abysmal means. We must understand is that evil does not really exist, in the same way that good does not really exist. “The Good," our Eudemonia, exists, it exists and it is what we must strive and push to achieve as Sith. So, dissolving the spectrum of good and evil from your mind is the first step. There is no good and evil, only virtue. In addition to our Eudemonia we are also an alliance and as such we are bonded together communally for the Order. Like our individual Sith principles there are principles that can be found common in all alliances and these principles lend the same power to us. Merit, Brotherhood, Commitment, Respect, and Discipline are all paramount to every alliance, but these principles combined with our own doctrine of beliefs make for a truly powerful Order. When you become a Sith your duty becomes to further our Order. In doing so furthering your own. We possess the ability to change history not for good or evil, but for ourselves and that is the greatest desire of the Sith.

[Sileath]

An outstanding creation by NSO's resident RP/FF goddess and Media staff writer Sarah Tintagyl.

Truly our philosophy has already started disseminating through the hearts and minds of the cyberverse.

[Ivan Moldavi]

An excellent statement.

My thanks to Sarah Tintagyl for helping enlighten the Cyberverse through the sharing of the Truth.

[Bill Wallace]

Very interesting ST. It looks like you've found your true home and I do believe your future will be bright. Interesting indeed.

[mpol777]

A question if you would permit me. With the focus on "Passion, Strength and Power", is it the internal or external forms of these that the Sith find more important? One is impossible without the other, I'm simply wondering which is the prominent goal.

[zigbigadorlou]

More of the same.

Bring up some new arguments and I might have to rail against my own philosophy (in order to fulfill it).

Glad to see the philosophical effort, but honestly, calling power, strength, and passion virtues doesn't work. Virtues are supposed to promote the good life. Other than OOCwise, the Sith suck at this. They go after selfish desires and end up either winning and having no fun at it, or getting killed. In either case, because of the passion, there is no LIFE in it. If you want IC eudaimonia, go to GPA. Other than that one incident, they successfully have lived peacefully and, from what I hear, contently. As most greeks would attest to, ambition isn't everything. Simple pleasures, not indulgences, are what leads to eudaimonia.

What does a man gain by his actions? Enemies.

OOCwise, this also doesn't necessarily work. You can have goals, attain them, and gain no satisfaction. Ought we be as many leaders and give up our life for a small sense of achievement? Nay, I say. Chaotic Neutral is the way to go. In all things, be spontaneous. In all things, be lulzy.

As Immanuel Kant once said, "Nothing can be called good without qualification except for a good will." It is this good will that I promote: one that serves its OOC master to its very end. A will that is always looking to promote good, not only for itself, but for the community. Aristotle would agree: what is good for the community is good for me as well, so always promote the community.

War is peace. Peace is a lie. Lie on my couch. Perhaps I will hit you with a pie. Perhaps I will feed you a roach. In any case, it will be lulzy.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

A question if you would permit me. With the focus on "Passion, Strength and Power", is it the internal or external forms of these that the Sith find more important? One is impossible without the other, I'm simply wondering which is the prominent goal.

Well you are correct that they are intertwined, but they virtues are more internal, as to what we believe in ourselves and what every person must find in themselves. We aren't out as missionaries after all ...But people would understand if you would visit the order that we see this virtues as part of ourselves, not seeking to force them on others.

I hope I answered your concern.

More of the same.

Bring up some new arguments and I might have to rail against my own philosophy (in order to fulfill it).

Glad to see the philosophical effort, but honestly, calling power, strength, and passion virtues doesn't work. Virtues are supposed to promote the good life. Other than OOCwise, the Sith suck at this. They go after selfish desires and end up either winning and having no fun at it, or getting killed. In either case, because of the passion, there is no LIFE in it. If you want IC eudaimonia, go to GPA. Other than that one incident, they successfully have lived peacefully and, from what I hear, contently. As most greeks would attest to, ambition isn't everything. Simple pleasures, not indulgences, are what leads to eudaimonia.

What does a man gain by his actions? Enemies.

OOCwise, this also doesn't necessarily work. You can have goals, attain them, and gain no satisfaction. Ought we be as many leaders and give up our life for a small sense of achievement? Nay, I say. Chaotic Neutral is the way to go. In all things, be spontaneous. In all things, be lulzy.

As Immanuel Kant once said, "Nothing can be called good without qualification except for a good will." It is this good will that I promote: one that serves its OOC master to its very end. A will that is always looking to promote good, not only for itself, but for the community. Aristotle would agree: what is good for the community is good for me as well, so always promote the community.

War is peace. Peace is a lie. Lie on my couch. Perhaps I will hit you with a pie. Perhaps I will feed you a roach. In any case, it will be lulzy.

I applaud your argument, but perhaps I need to clarify more on what I was getting at.

First, as to the virtue point, there are various ways to obtain Eudemonia, one of the beautiful parts of human society today is that we live in a pluralist state and therefore can look to achieve Eudemonia in anyway we see fit. The Sith follow this goal precisely because our push for flourishing is through obtaining Power through strength and passion the same way that members of GPA would get happiness and individual and/or collective flourishing from being peaceful. Essentially it is each to his own. The Sith have a very individualistic bond, however by benefiting ourselves we benefit the alliance and those around us. For instance even in the most basic levels of this war, a victory for a nation, leads to various victories of the alliance, and ultimately the entire coalition that we are apart of.

Now when you talk about the Sith OOC-wise, though I may be wrong here, I'll be honest I have barely finished the Star-Wars movies that this Order is supposedly based on. NSO is not a fairy-tale organization made up of demons and monsters out to destroy the world. Though to the untrained eye our ideals may seem questionable. One might say, well of course they are evil, worshiping power and passion above all else. But without those ideologies how does one hope to advance in the world. Peace is obtained through power, not as brutal peace with the end of a sword. But a person must have some degree of power (i.e. Influence) to have any chance of swaying a population that often is war-hungry to begin with to have peace. Or to sway a frightened people to defend what they know in their hearts to be right.

As to the small sense of achievement. If we live our lives without any sense of achievement then what to we live for anyways? That small sense of achievement was what made writers, artists, and thinkers wake up in the morning to create the great wonders and works of art that we have today. Lulz too is an achievement, its comedy is it not? I don't know about you, but making an audience laugh what ever the size is rewarding in itself.

As to the quotes of Kant and Aristotle, if you flip them around then you have us. Individual success leads to Communal success, the two are intertwined. A lone person cannot change the world without help from a state or those backing him. One man can be great and lead many people, but if he doesn't have the support of a community behind him, then he is nothing. The Sith depend on the individual to benefit our community and add to our strength and I believe that ever Sith can attest to that.

If I didn't answer any of your questions, I apologize, just point out what I forgot and I will answer in due time.

[Mogar]

I like reading your walls of text, you seem like an awesome person.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

I like reading your walls of text, you seem like an awesome person.

LOL, seriously I'm a verbose person. Its something that I need to cut back on.

[Lennox]

Excellent work ST. May the rest of CN see the light Sith way.

[Earogema]

I thought this was about Sithis.

I am sad.

[Sargun II]

I like reading your walls of text, you seem like an awesome person.

She is.

/suckup

I thought this was about Sithis.

I am sad.

I am sadder.

D:

I DEMAND SITHISISM

[mpol777]

Well you are correct that they are intertwined, but they virtues are more internal, as to what we believe in ourselves and what every person must find in themselves. We aren't out as missionaries after all ...But people would understand if you would visit the order that we see this virtues as part of ourselves, not seeking to force them on others.

I hope I answered your concern.

Actually you did not. Maybe it was I that formed the question incorrectly or maybe one question was not enough.

A man/woman that has passion may or may not change the world even if that person has the strength and power to do so. Passion, or as I like to think of it, will requires strength and power to affect change, and it is the change that the will is directed towards that I question. If I change myself I have changed the world as I am part of the world. This is very different from the goal of changing others in order to change the world. It's really the difference between a leader that leads because of rank and one that leads because others follow.

I see power and strength as internal forces. In my mind not only is it impossible to have external influence with out the internal, but the external is irrelevant as to what drives me. So what drives the Sith? You've stated the factors, but not the goals. There must be a destination. Even if that destination changes over time.

[Margrave]

Actually you did not. Maybe it was I that formed the question incorrectly or maybe one question was not enough.

A man/woman that has passion may or may not change the world even if that person has the strength and power to do so. Passion, or as I like to think of it, will requires strength and power to affect change, and it is the change that the will is directed towards that I question. If I change myself I have changed the world as I am part of the world. This is very different from the goal of changing others in order to change the world. It's really the difference between a leader that leads because of rank and one that leads because others follow.

I see power and strength as internal forces. In my mind not only is it impossible to have external influence with out the internal, but the external is irrelevant as to what drives me. So what drives the Sith? You've stated the factors, but not the goals. There must be a destination. Even if that destination changes over time.

The idea that we base our philosophy on is simple. Our definition of Virtue is the ability to advance your own cause; therefore everything that advances yourself/the alliance is good, while that which does not is "bad". Now, a Sith with understanding will realize that risk plays a factor in all ideas, and so certain "advancing" actions (like spying or DDOSing an enemy forum) are rendered "bad" or "Lacking in Virtue" by their respective risk factors...

But if you are curious as to what all this is supposed to achieve, I can answer you quite simply:

Dominion.

[He Who Has No Name]

The idea that we base our philosophy on is simple. Our definition of Virtue is the ability to advance your own cause; therefore everything that advances yourself/the alliance is good, while that which does not is "bad". Now, a Sith with understanding will realize that risk plays a factor in all ideas, and so certain "advancing" actions (like spying or DDOSing an enemy forum) are rendered "bad" or "Lacking in Virtue" by their respective risk factors...

But if you are curious as to what all this is supposed to achieve, I can answer you quite simply:

Dominion.

Thanks for clarifying.

We'll keep that in mind.

Edited April 30, 2009 by He Who Has No Name

[DeeLeeshush]

Beautifully written Sarah, I almost cried

The Passion of the Sith!!!

eh well....there wasn't a liquor bottle one

[Nobama]

I freely give my prayers to the Order,

I freely give my nation to the Order,

I freely give my soul to the Order,

For the Order has set me free.

[Darth Plainview]

Great work ST a good read.

[Bralor]

The new vladimir?

[Alterego]

Makes you look like NPO mkII. First the name, then the flag, now this. Why bother with a philosophy anyway?

[heggo]

Makes you look like NPO mkII. First the name, then the flag, now this. Why bother with a philosophy anyway?

Why not bother with it?

I say let the philosophers philosophize and let the role players role play. If you had any in your midst, I'm sure you would let them do what they do too.

[Ferrous]

Gah, I was interested up until you started bringing in OOC references. Then you lost my interest immediately. I'll take a second look once I get over myself probably.

[nish81]

Now when you talk about the Sith OOC-wise, though I may be wrong here, I'll be honest I have barely finished the Star-Wars movies that this Order is supposedly based on. NSO is not a fairy-tale organization made up of demons and monsters out to destroy the world.

It's interesting that you say this while I'm reading the latest star wars novel series, 'Legacy of the Force' - or something similar. It deals predominantly with showing the Sith from a new point of view - not as bad guys, but as those who would master their emotions and use their full power to bring order to the universe. Darth banned member and Emperor Palpatine, which were the sith in the movies, are described as the sith who failed to master their emotions, and let their emotions control them, thereby becoming selfish and causing great pain.

[Margrave]

The new vladimir?

If so, I'd say we got the better deal on our end!

[Paint Your Target]

An interesting read

PYT.