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The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy: The Search for Socrates

Summary[]

From the back cover
Can a starship captain be both great and moral? Can Vulcans and androids really have (or be) friends? What is it like to be a hologram, shapeshifter, or incorporeal entity? Why do the Borg frighten us so much? Is there room for God in the Star Trek universe? Is Q just a sadistic pest or a provocateur of human advancement?
The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy boldly goes where no book has gone before in pursuit of a greater philosophical understanding of the galaxy's final frontier. It reunites the editors of Star Trek and Philosophy with Starfleet's finest experts for 30 new, highly logical essays to provide a thorough examination of the Star Trek universe – from the original series to the most recent films directed by J.J. Abrams, Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). The essays introduce important concepts in philosophy through the vast array of provocative issues raised by the series, such as the ethics of the Prime Directive, Star Trek's philosophy of peace, Data and Voyager's Doctor as persons, moral relativism and the Federation's quest for liberation, the effect of alternate universes on reality and identity, the Borg as transhumanists, Federation Trekonomics, and Star Trek's secular society. Available in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the endlessly inventive and beloved Star Trek franchise, this is an enterprising and enlightening voyage into deep space that will appeal to hardcore fans and science fiction enthusiasts alike.

Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.

Contents[]

  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction: A Guide to Living Long and Prospering (Pages: 1-3)
  • Part I : Alpha Quadrant: Home Systems
    • CHAPTER 1 - "The More Complex the Mind, the Greater the Need for the Simplicity of Play" (Pages: 5-17) - Jason T. Eberl
    • CHAPTER 2 - Aristotle and James T. Kirk: The Problem of Greatness (Pages: 18-25) - Jerold J. Abrams
    • CHAPTER 3 - The Moral Psychology of a Starship Captain (Pages: 26-35) - Tim Challans
    • CHAPTER 4 - "Make It So": Kant, Confucius, and the Prime Directive (Pages: 36-46) - Alejandro Bárcenas, Steve Bein
    • CHAPTER 5 - Destroying Utopias: Why Kirk is a Jerk (Pages: 47-58) - David Kyle Johnson
    • CHAPTER 6 - "We Are Not Going to Kill Today": Star Trek and the Philosophy of Peace (Pages: 59-68) - David Boersema
  • Part II : Beta Quadrant: Dangerous Rivalries
    • CHAPTER 7 - Klingons: A Cultural Pastiche (Pages: 68-82) - Victor Grech
    • CHAPTER 8 - The Borg as Contagious Collectivist Techno-Totalitarian Transhumanists (Pages: 83-94) - Dan Dinello
    • CHAPTER 9 - Assimilation and Autonomy (Pages: 95-104) - Barbara Stock
    • CHAPTER 10 - Q: A Rude, Interfering, Inconsiderate, Sadistic Pest—on a Quest for Justice? (Pages: 105-114) - Kyle Alkema, Adam Barkman
    • CHAPTER 11 - Federation Trekonomics: Marx, the Federation, and the Shift from Necessity to Freedom (Pages: 115-126) - Jeff Ewing
    • CHAPTER 12 - "The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few": Utilitarianism and Star Trek (Pages: 127-137) - Greg Littmann
    • CHAPTER 13 - Casuistry in the Final Frontier (Pages: 138-147) - Courtland Lewis
  • Part III : Delta Quadrant: Questing For Home
    • CHAPTER 14 - "Today Is a Good Day to Die!" Transporters and Human Extinction (Pages: 148-161) - William Jaworski
    • CHAPTER 15 - Two Kirks, Two Rikers (Pages: 162-171) - Trip McCrossin
    • CHAPTER 16 - Data, Kant, and Personhood; or, Why Data Is Not a Toaster (Pages: 172-179) - Nina Rosenstand
    • CHAPTER 17 - Humans, Androids, Cyborgs, and Virtual Beings: All aboard the Enterprise (Pages: 180-189) - Dennis M. Weiss
    • CHAPTER 18 - Photons (and Drones) Be Free: Phenomenology and the Life-Worlds of Voyager's Doctor and Seven of Nine (Pages: 190-198) - Nicole R. Pramik
    • CHAPTER 19 - Vision Quest into Indigenous Space (Pages: 199-210) - Walter Robinson
  • Part IV : Gamma Quadrant: Infinite Diversity In Infinite Combinations
    • CHAPTER 20 - Rethinking the Matter: Organians Are Still Organisms (Pages: 211-222) - Melanie Johnson-Moxley
    • CHAPTER 21 - "In Search of ..." Friendship: What We Can Learn from Androids and Vulcans (Pages: 223-231) - James M. Okapal
    • CHAPTER 22 - Resistance Is Negligible: In Praise of Cyborgs (Pages: 232-242) - Lisa Cassidy
    • CHAPTER 23 - "Who I Really Am": Odo, Mead, and the Self (Pages: 243-252) - Pamela JG Boyer
    • CHAPTER 24 - Is Liberation Ever a Bad Thing? Enterprise's "Cogenitor" and Moral Relativism (Pages: 253-263) - William A. Lindenmuth
    • CHAPTER 25 - Resistance Really Is Futile: On Being Assimilated by Our Own Technology (Pages: 264-272) - Dena Hurst
  • Part V : Beyond The Galactic Barrier: The Future as The Final Frontier
    • CHAPTER 26 - Life on a Holodeck: What Star Trek Can Teach Us about the True Nature of Reality (Pages: 273-287) - Dara Fogel
    • CHAPTER 27 - Which Spock Is the Real One? Alternate Universes and Identity (Pages: 288-298) - Andrew Zimmerman Jones
    • CHAPTER 28 - "Strangely Compelling": Romanticism in "The City on the Edge of Forever" (Pages: 299-307) - O'Hare Sarah
    • CHAPTER 29 - It Is a Q of Life: Q as a Nietzschean Figure (Pages: 308-314) - Charles Taliaferro, Bailey Wheelock
    • CHAPTER 30 - A God Needs Compassion, but Not a Starship: Star Trek's Humanist Theology (Pages: 315-325) - James F. McGrath
    • CHAPTER 31 - "The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning": Star Trek's Secular Society (Pages: 326-339) - Kevin S. Decker
  • Contributors: Federation Ambassadors to Babel (Pages: 340-348)
  • Index (Pages: 349-358)
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