The Ethics of Star Trek

Beam Students Into Your Classroom! Dare to go where one professor has gone: a classroom packed with enthusiastic students! For 35 years, Star Trek has been a popular vehicle for exploring social issues. Its humanistic values and optimistic view of the future have inspired many young people, and the ethical dilemmas that drive much of its drama have provoked debate among generations of fans. One of the main reasons why Star Trek has endured is that most of the stories themselves are indeed moral dilemmas. In The Ethics of Star Trek, students will examine four philosophical systems (Aristotelian virtue, Kant''s duty theory, existentialism, and Platonic virtue) as they are embodied in the four Star Trek series. Using examples from Plato, Aristotle, Sartre, and other great philosophers, The Ethics of Star Trek explores such timeless ethical questions as: - Is good stronger than evil? - If the Prime Directive is so inviolable, why does Kirk always seem to break it? - Would Nietzsche have made a good starship captain? - What''s more important, the intentions behind our actions or the results we get? - Does absolute power really corrupt absolutely? What would you do with the power of Q? - How would Kant''s insistence on autonomous altruism have affected the Federation''s dealings with the Borg? - Are rational beings the only life-forms entitled to our respect? - What would it mean if, deep down, everyone really were a Ferengi? Clearly explaining the ethical content of Star Trek''s story lines, philosophy professor Judith Barad, Ph.D., presents a thorough survey of Western philosophy. Join her as she takes the complex, intriguing, and often confusing subject of ethics and makes it practical, understandable, and accessible for your students.

Product details

• Authors: J. Barad, Judith Barad, E. Robertson, Ed Robertson
• Publisher: Harper Collins Usa
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 05.12.2000
• EAN: 9780060195304
• ISBN: 978-0-06-019530-4
• No. of pages: 384
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 210 mm x 31 mm
• Subjects: Performing Arts, Television, Reference works, Television: styles and genres, Film guides and reviews, Consumer advice, Film, television, radio genres: Drama, Philosophy / Ethics, PERFORMING ARTS: Film & Video / General, PERFORMING ARTS: Television / General, PHILOSOPHY: General, PERFORMING ARTS: Television / Guides & Reviews, REFERENCE: Consumer Guides, PERFORMING ARTS: Film & Video / Guides & Reviews, PERFORMING ARTS: Television / Genres / Drama, PHILOSOPHY: ETHICS, PERFORMING ARTS: Television / Reference, PHILOSOPHY: Ethics & Moral Philosophy