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Posted:
08:54:47 on January 01 2002
By: Steve Krutzler
Dept: TrekWeb Features
The Ethics of Star Trek
by Judith Barad, Ph.D. with Ed Robertson
Paperback, 368 pages
Perennial Press, 2000
Written for TrekWeb by Alexander Chase
© 2002 TrekWeb.com & Alexander Chase
Upon opening Barad's The Ethics of Star Trek, I was expecting another
navel-gazing exercise in intellectual masturbation from the cultural
studies department of some American university; much like Harrison et
al's 1996 Enterprise Zones. In other words, poorly constructed
arguments about Roddenberry's Trek promoting a patriarchal model of
an Anglo-Saxon male-dominated society where women and ethnic
minorities are little more than "property"; or, Trek as the
"messenger" of Euro-centric visions of imperialism and manifest
destiny in a era of mass globalization. All of which would ignore
obvious counter-examples from episodes in order to wedge Trek like a
proverbial square peg into a decidedly anti-Western round hole, and
provide numerous points of unintentional humor of the laugh-out-loud
variety.
However, Barad's The Ethics of Star Trek is not only a pleasant
surprise, it is an outstanding and substantial piece of intellectual
thought.
The title of the book is something of a misnomer since the book is
not really about Star Trek but rather a well-written and reasoned
survey of ethical philosophy from Plato and Aristotle's early ideas
of ethical virtue to Benham and Mill's concept of utilitarianism
("the greatest good for the greatest number") to Kant ("the end never
justifies the means") and Satre's mediations on existentialist angst.
What Barad accomplishes is to make the philosophy of moral ethics
easily accessible to the layman reader by using examples from
episodes of Star Trek as a benchmark and sounding board to explain,
illustrate and explore concepts associated with each philosopher's
theory of moral ethics. At the same time, the logic of her arguments
about the strengths and weaknesses of different theoretical
approaches to ethics are weighty enough to maintain the interest of
even the most experienced reader.
The result is a well-written, tightly-argued and eminently accessible
book about a sometimes difficult subject matter which beginners and
experts alike will find richly thought-provoking.
A significant portion of the book concentrates on episodes from The
Original Series (principally focusing on the characters of Kirk and
Spock) and The Next Generation (focusing on Picard) since these
series' ethical foundations in Aristotelian virtue would, for the
most part, seem readily apparent to both the author and the reader.
Barad's take on the ethical foundations of Deep Space Nine and
Voyager is slightly more fluid. She identifies DS9's ethical
foundations squarely with Satre's concepts of existentialism; a fact
Barad seems to view as a divergent tendency in Trek. Personally, this
reviewer has always thought that Existentialism sits nicely within
the broader Aristotelian ethical framework and Barad makes no
argument to counter this idea, though I have no doubt Satre himself
would disagree. Barad does briefly mention, but neglects to explore
in any detail, how the differing format of DS9 ("stay and face the
consequences") compared to the other series ("encounter, resolve,
then move on") may play a significant role in its more explicit basis
in existentialism.
When it comes to VOY and her captain, however, Barad explicitly
admits that the ethical foundations of the series are "eclectic" at
best before settling on a model of Platonic virtue. Of course, this
raises some interesting questions - which Barad acknowledges but
barely scratches the surface of - since earlier in her review of
Plato's ideas about societal ethics (principally detailed in The
Republic) the author concedes that the Borg Collective itself would
qualify as a Platonic model of societal and ethical perfection. This
admission, however, does perhaps begin to bring into focus the
rationale behind the increasing personalification of Borg/VOY
conflicts between that of the Borg Queen and her 'collective", and
the "collective" of Captain Janeway; whom Barad refers to as a
perfect illustration of Plato's notions of a philosopher-queen. For
many critics of VOY, Barad's observations will provide additional
ammunition to question the suitability (and even sanity) of Voyager's
captain to lead her crew; even Barad comments that her
"decision-making is often brusque" in the extreme.
Barad's attempt to force all of Star Trek into one universal ethical
theory (what she refers to a modified Kantian model) at the
conclusion fails to convince but it takes up a minor portion of the
book and is an interesting attempt to try to tie everything together
nonetheless. However, much like Trek itself, it is the journey itself
which is much more interesting than the destination. In discussing
several episodes, Barad even manages to add some intellectual weight
to episodes such as VOY's Concerning Flight, DS9's Let He Who Is
Without Sin..., and TOS' And the Children Shall Lead which manifestly
failed to do so on their own in the eyes of many Trek fans. She
successfully does the same with a few, hotly debated episodes such as
DS9's The Reckoning. Barad constructs a very convincing argument
regarding the ethical basis of this episode with reference to
Kierkegaardian principles (a Christian forerunner of Friedrich
Nietzsche's latter "might is right" theories). Indeed, Barad's
analysis of the nature of good and evil with reference to Saint
Augustine's mediations on moral ethics in comparing The Reckoning and
And the Children Shall Lead is an especially fascinating section of
the book which goes some way in explaining why the Wraiths choose
Jake Sisko as their receptacle, and later Gul Dukat (given what we
learned about him in season 4, especially his feelings for his
daughter, Ziyal). For those like the reviewer who think DS9's The
Reckoning rightfully ranks with the best of Star Trek, this is a
welcomed analysis.
Another highlight of the book comes early when Barad literally rips
to shreds the ideas of cultural relativism with a clarity of writing
which is simply devastating in its logic. It is perhaps ironic that
the best refutation of cultural relativism that this reviewer has
read occurs in a book where Star Trek figures so prominently. Even
Spock would find Barad's logic in exposing the inherent
contradictions of cultural relativism, and its uselessness as an
ethical framework in both Star Trek and real life, extremely
impressive.
Due to the length of the book, there are many intriguing episodes
where ethical dilemmas play a central role that Barad has to ignore;
DS9's Hippocratic Oath and The Quickening are just two I wish she had
discussed. However, near the end, Barad tantalizes the reader by
suggesting she will cover more ground "in the next book." I, for one,
will eagerly be awaiting its arrival since Barad clearly establishes
herself in this book as: perhaps the most substantial thinker about
Star Trek to recently be published; and, as a bright talent in the
field of ethics. Barad's book is not only a must-read for Trek fans
truly interested in the legacy of Gene Roddenberry's creation but
also for any student of ethics, Trek and non-Trek fans alike. The
Ethics of Star Trek is graced with a depth and clarity of logic which
every reader will find a rich and rewarding experience.
