Ethics lessons from Star Trek . Sterfleet morality died out with Star trek enterprise. So grab your bat’leth and put on your baldric while we dive into the moral culture of the Klingon Empire. Granted colleges are a lot safer than space exploration. In these roles, Picard not only witnessed major turning … They should be places where the human mind is free to explore strange new intellectual worlds, to seek out new ideas and new findings, and to boldly go where no one has gone before. Star Trek TNG S06E06 True Q Blu ray FullHD interpolated to 60fps It means not seeing every criticism or disagreement as a cause for major conflict, and not policing what other people say. When his authority is challenged by a subordinate, he knows he’s got to handle this like a Klingon would. The first involves the morality of committing suicide in the face of a tremendous physical challenge, while the other focuses on the lengths someone will go to in order to prove a medical theory. For the most part, they’re still widespread ideals today. Cast The authors comment on “Star Trek’s overt hostility to organized religion” while observing that at the same time it contains numerous references to Christian ethics. Morgan Wallen Dropped by WME After Racial Slur Video The news comes in the wake of the country singer's record contract being suspended indefinitely and the Academy of … However, the latest entry into the Trek universe of books is The Ethics of Star Trek, written by Judith Barad and Ed Robertson. “I, an ethnic minority woman, cannot be racist or sexist towards white men….” Similarly, a student at Ohio University authored a column in the university newspaper arguing, “Women cannot be sexist; the same way people of color cannot be racist” … Students at Brown University even argue that whites cannot be subject to censorship… for “the oppressed by definition cannot censor their oppressor” – Campbell and Manning, Rise of Victimhood Culture, p.93. All that stuff is less important than acting in accordance with his ethical principles. They care more about things like freedom, truth, equal rights, and peace. It means being willing to listen and learn. And the ethical dilemmas and lessons of the series tell us a lot about the moral culture of the people who made it – and of the people who watch it. Picard: “Good.” — Ep.2.20, “The Emissary.”, LaForge: “I can barely stand to be in the same room with the man.” These connotations have helped guide the distinctions between morality and ethics. They’ll even test each other to see if they’re worthy of respect. Doctor in Star Trek Voyager, and Quark in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. LaForge: I select what I want to see and disregard the rest. That’s one thing that makes it hard for most members of the Federation to interact with the Klingons. Speaking of justice: Klingons aren’t big on letting other people handle their problems for them. Thus a religious existential ethics rejects the rationalism of natural law ethics and, at least in Kierkegaard’s case, moves in the direction of a divine command theory. In fact, the Bible invites such testing. He needs little by way of introduction. Picard: Your Honour, the courtroom is a crucible. In the end, it’s the dignity culture that’s most conducive to both peace and intellectual and scientific growth. Overall Star Trek TNG is steeped in what social scientists call a culture of dignity. Depending on who you’re talking too just about anything you say might be a serious offense. People in these societies, especially the men, tend to have a low standard of provocation. Haven’t you heard all these activists and professors saying college should be a “safe space”? They go on to successively tackle virtue ethics, hedonism, Stoicism, Christian ethics, social contract theory, duty ethics, utilitarianism, and existential ethics--all in reference to the moral dilemmas enlivened by Star Trek. He sticks up for a crewman being unfairly prosecuted because he’s part-Romulan. So instead of calling security or depending on the captain, he subdues the guy with violence. Barclay wouldn’t last long at a liberal arts college. David Beckham studies – Staffordshire University, UK It … And they do things differently. Being brave is mainly good if it helps you uphold even more important ideals, like savings lives and protecting the innocent. A lot of the drama and humor in the show come from how this culture clashes with another moral system that we can call a culture of honor. Some people expect you not to mention anything that might cause them distress. Remember when some treasonous Klingons try to cover their tracks by killing Worf’s mate, K’ehleyr? There’s a reason those Starfleet ships are loaded with phasers and photon torpedoes. Due process might get in the way of protecting victim groups, and in any case, members of the oppressor groups don’t deserve much concern. This unit introduces the concept of business ethics related to morality through the famous Star Trek series and films. Tasha Yar and the crew of the Enterprise C sacrificed themselves to protect a Klingon outpost and prevent a war-ridden alternate timeline. The characters of Captain Kirk, Spock, and Bones provide some interesting situations, which question business ethics … Some may argue that there's no such thing as a useless degree - any education is a good education including many degrees from online schools and universities. Copyright 2020. Worf: “Why do you mock me? Half A Life (The Next Generation) Issues: activism, respect for other cultures. For example, in 2016 the U.K.’s National Union of Students’ LGBT Campaign passed a motion for campus LGBT groups to exclude gay men because they “don’t face oppression” — Campbell and Manning, Rise of Victimhood Culture, p.168. Read more about Guest Writer. In late 20th century America, most people understood the ideals of dignity culture. The ‘crucial facts’ pertaining to her identity serve to endow the writer of this article with moral authority. Take the episode “A Matter of Honor” where Riker is serving as an exchange officer on a Klingon ship. And as “progressive” as the Federation may be, it’s military retains the same conservative militaristic values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. Aside from having different sorts of rights for different sorts of people, campus culture doesn’t emphasize the same sort of rights. What is lovely? If the student was trying to find out what Clemson students could safely say, Artis’s warning that the university could still punish students for using a word it had not officially banned actually provided a clear answer: Nothing. People even describe discomfort or dislike in the strongest terms possible, using words like trauma and violence. Similarly, ethics is the term used in conjunction with business, medicine, or law. It doesn’t encourage science and philosophy when people are scared that studying books will make them look weak, but it also doesn’t help when they’re convinced they’re fragile and that words and images can easily hurt them. You can get in trouble for that. Within the Star Trek universe, the Prime Directive is a crucial regulation that is binding on Starfleet personnel. Phlox told Trip Tucker that he was too concerned with his Human morality and cited his decision to join Starfleet as his wish to learn about new cultures when Tucker questioned the concept of Denobulan polygamous relationships . Now you might say that the Klingon are written to be one-dimensional, and real life cultures are more complicated than that. Only the point of colleges and universities, or so I thought, was intellectual exploration and discovery. Q: If you can’t take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. Picard was even against killing the Crystalline Entity, a giant space monster that wiped out entire worlds. Reasons to Believe. In his book Without A Doubt, RTB philosopher/theologian Kenneth Samples elucidates. As I write these lines I come across an article in the Columbia Spectator, the newspaper published by students at Columbia University. if you doubt it, a demonstration can be arranged.” Instead he picked up his bat’leth and demanded the killer face him in a duel to the death. The Federation also values bravery. There’s plots that explore weird phenomena where the crew has to solve scientific mysteries, stories about diplomacy and political intrigue, episodes where they have to decipher an alien culture — in fact, at some point the show visits just about every genre of storytelling. He defends Data’s rights to be treated as a human and given full autonomy to run his own life. Have we become so cowardly that we must extinguish a man because — “. Or if they’re really mad and have some time on their hands they’ll get a bunch of people together to chant and shout and wave signs protesting you, basically complaining in public so as to make you ashamed and convince people you should be punished or fired. First, the standard for morality may lie beyond our comprehension, forcing us to rely on authority, revelation, or tradition to explain morality. He at least wanted to try communicating with it first. More than once their efforts fail, or they make controversial or downright wrong decisions. LaForge: “Yes, sir.” — Ep.3.21, “Hollow Pursuits.”. Rather than using violence as a first resort Captain Picard usually tries some other option to solve things. But backing down would have been too shameful to bear. But for the utilitarian, all that matters is the net gain of happiness. LaForge: In a noisy room, how can you pick out one specific voice or sound? Or at least, some people are more worthy than others. Two options present themselves if the standard of morality is independent of the gods. The acceptance of ethical conventionalism (“whatever a person’s culture says is right is right”) means one culture cannot criticize the moral actions of another culture....Yet how can one accept a so-called system of morality that makes it impossible to bring ruthless people, such as the Nazis, to the bar of justice? Will Elon Musk’s Neuralink Make It Possible to Control Electronic Devices with Our Minds. Even outside of the chain of command, Klingons take the law into their own hands. Arguing in a classroom or reading in the library is a lot less likely to get you killed by Nagilum or the Borg or a tar monster. Picard: “Then I suggest you put your personal discomfort on one side, Commander. Thus, it provides opportunities to explore the moral dilemmas associated with cultural diversity and pluralism in a universe without a single moral code. Exploring and learning means getting outside of your comfort zone. In it we burn away irrelevancies until we are left with a pure product, the truth for all time.” — Ep.2.9, “The Measure of a Man.”. Wikipedia explains, “The Prime Directive dictates that there can be no interference with the internal development of alien civilizations.” The motivation for this guiding principle is the belief that whenever a superior civilization attempts to improve a less-advanced culture, however good the intentions, the results are disastrous. Your support helps more people find Christ through sharing how the latest scientific discoveries affirm our faith in the God of the Bible. While this belief is widely held today, it comes with serious drawbacks. And it’s not a trial by combat, but something where both sides present evidence and arguments and try to get to the truth of the matter. But by The Next Generation they were written to be a proud warrior culture who were obsessed with their honor. Dignity is different than honor. He’ll step out of the captain’s chair and let Worf pretend to be in charge, agree to have his memory wiped so a xenophobic species could maintain their secrecy, and even pretend to be in love with Lwaxana Troi. As the Star Trek franchise progressed, so did the Prime Directive’s applications. What is real? Screen Rant contributor Derek Draven argued that "Ethics" is the show's fifth "Most Important Episode with a Moral Message," writing that "'Ethics' is a two-pronged social message. … as when a college professor says that an American college student killed by the North Korean government “got exactly what he deserved” because his behavior… was like that of the “young, white, rich, clueless males” she teaches , or when another professor tweets, “All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide” – Campbell and Manning, Rise of Victimhood Culture, p.201. NOW THAT YOU’VE DISCOVERED REASONS TO BELIEVE, Star Trek’s Prime Directive and Moral Relativism, Is Morality Only in the Eye of the Beholder, The 3 Transcendentals: Truth, Goodness, & Beauty, Earth's Primordial Magma Ocean Affirms Genesis 1 Creation Events. Sure, there’s conflict, miscommunication, and opposing interests, but overall people try to be understanding and charitable and talk things out. — Campbell and Manning, Rise of Victimhood Culture, p.239. The days of gentlemen fighting duels were long gone. Except for Worf, of course, people on the Enterprise don’t talk much about the glory of battle or virtues of strength. There were a couple different honor cultures that the crew of the Enterprise came across in their voyage, but the one they dealt with most often were the Klingons. The crew of the USS Discovery seem to be able to do as they please without consequence. Its complex moral dilemmas present a view of the future that holds important truths for us in the present. The Klingon notion of honor included a lot of things, but at its core it was about bravery. The Klingons in The Original Series were basically just despicable bad guys. Even their starship crews work like this. Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (pp. All rights reserved. Worf: “I say fight, sir. Ancient Greek and Roman morality in the Star Trek future: Justice in a savage arena ; The cave, the forms, and Kathryn Janeway ; Plato's stepchildren and beyond ; Kirk finds the golden mean ; Equity and friendship in Star Trek ; When worlds collide: hedonism vs. stoicism (or Jadzia and Worf clash in paradise) -- pt. People of the Federation would take their problems to the authorities as well, but usually that was for stuff that was a little more serious than someone saying something that made you mad. Get the latest delivered directly to you by subscribing to the RTB Weekly Digest. 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