The Ethics of Star Trek

The ethics of the Federation are not so obvious given its history, this treatise helps to unravel the complexity of the organization

"The Ethics of Star Trek" came out in 2001, just after the conclusion of the run of "Star Trek: Voyager." It is a really good summary of the ethical philosophies embodied by the captains and other main characters in the first four "Star Trek" series. Since this book was published, of course, there have been two additional "Star Trek" series, both of which are located closer to our own time than the original series was and whose characters can therefore be expected to share more of contemporary America's outlook on the universe. I hope the authors of this book have written at least papers about the ethics of "Enterprise" and "Discovery" but you won't get those if you buy this book.The authors dispute the idea that "Star Trek" is essentially utilitarian (which I had firmly believed based on the example of Spock), locating its ethical lodestars as variously as ancient Greece and nineteenth-century Denmark. They even dispute the idea that "Bread and Circuses" from the original series is the most Christian episode ever, zeroing in on Sisko's multiple leaps of faith associated with his status as the Prophets' Emissary to the Bajorans. If you have any interest in "Star Trek" and what it says not only about the good society, but good men and women, you should read this book. Four stars.

What a great book! Ethics by its very nature can be somewhat complicated with all the different philosophical discussions. Kant, Kierkegard, and others...all discussed in this book. I felt that this book did a good job of covering all the major ethical theories and concepts and framed them so well related to one of my favorite things - Star Trek!Each chapter explores an ethical concept and uses a few episodes to make its point. The only shortcoming (if you can say there was one) is that Enterprise (the 5th series) was not represented because of when this book was published. Otherwise, all 4 of the other series were represented adequately.I found some of the book to be quite 'heavy' in that it took a long time to get through it. But this was not in a bad way, because if the concepts are somewhat familiar to you, then it might go faster.At the end, the author summarizes all 4 series by ascribing the most likely ethical approach to them. It's a nice way to end the detailed description that occurred throughout the rest of the book.All in all, a great book...well worth reading by the Star Trek fan and the person who wants to learn about ethics in a somewhat unconventional way!

This is a wonderful introduction to and a sampling of several schools of philosophical thought and ethical behavior. The Star Trek series even demonstrate how important faith can be in a person's life. The characters show the importance of overcoming emotion with reason in some circumstances but also allowing emotion to help them win the day in other circumstances. And sometimes you just have to have faith to come out all right.Very well written and informtive.

I came across this book nearly fifteen years ago in a college book store. I am obviously a trekkie, so the idea of essays on ethics using Star Trek episodes caught my fancy. One will learn everything about the ethical principles that define our society through this book. But...if you are not up on each episode that Barad discusses it could be a bit less entertaining.

The book and its authors tells its negative views of hero's, the future, and humanity. The writer's presentation shows they can't stand things that are good., because its good. Thus they dislike Kirk and all of Star Trek because it is good. As a reader I do not like being insulted because I find it entertaining and find the stories as hopeful.If I could I would no give a star at all. Bitter people who just attack for no reason except for Its goodness.Very Bad book If your A fAN of Star Trek!

Like the Philosophy book for Star Trek, this too provided insight I did not consider before. A most interesting read for any hardcore fan of the films and the 6 series shows.

I only started to read the first pages, as this is the example of a read and reflect book.You reed on chapter and let it simmer.Love it.

I bought this book for my final year dissertation, since it was on the exact same subject, and it was incredibly useful and insightful. It's not exactly light reading, you have to have seen the episodes in question and really concentrate in order to understand the text.I like the fact that the authors put some complex notions into easily understandable examples, but it is still pretty heavy going and it may take a while to get through. Saying all of this, the issues and theories brought forward are really interesting and will open your mind to some exciting ideas.

great!

... politicians would act as ethical as Kirk, Picard, Sisko and Janeway.Ethics with a lot of examples from star trek, next generation, deep Space 9 and Voyager

Anyway, an essential book for any Star Trek lover!