Meta Treks: A Star Trek Philosophy Podcast

Death Wish.

Nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche held that Western philosophers from Socrates onward have had a gigantic death wish in the form of philosophical escapism and denial of our nature as finite, embodied beings with our own uniquely individual perspectives, drives, and desires. Philosophers in the Q Continuum likewise seem to have a death wish, especially Quinn, the Q Continuum's greatest philosopher.

In this episode of Meta Treks, hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison discuss the philosophical and existential themes in the second-season Voyager episode "Death Wish." Although "Death Wish" is usually interpreted as a moral dilemma about assisted suicide—itself a hot moral topic since the 1990s—Zachary and Mike argue instead that "Death Wish" is a subtler but highly-developed example of Nietzschean philosophy of embodiment, perspectivism, and metaphorical self-expression.

Zachary and Mike also discuss the question of meaning as it relates to death, the finitude of human life, and the possibility of immortality—in the Q Continuum or in any form of the afterlife.

Chapters Intro (00:01:19) Initial Thoughts on Voyager: "Death Wish" (00:03:32) Philosophical Overview and Examples of Nietzschean Philosophy (00:06:43) Quinn: Genius or Madman? (00:16:39) The Meaningfulness of Life (00:26:16) The Problem with Perfect Being Theology and the Death of God (00:42:04) Camus and The Myth of Sisyphus (00:43:18) Existentialism and the Subjectivity of Fulfillment in Life (00:48:31) Marcus Aurelius and the Question of Legacy (00:55:15) How the Q Continuum is Depicted in Death Wish (00:58:49) Comparing and Contrasting How Star Trek Depicts the Q Continuum (01:08:25) Is All of Star Trek Escapist? (01:11:38) A Few Final Questions About "Death Wish" (01:21:17) Closing (01:25:56) Hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison Production Mike Morrison (Editor) Zachary Fruhling (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Kay Shaw (Associate Producer) Mar Walker (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

Discovery Season 1 - Essential Trek Philosophy.

We in the 21st century do not live in an age of mythology as the ancient Greeks and Romans did, with epic heroes and narratives to provide context and meaning for our lives. Yet we hunger and thirst for meaning, as humans have done since the dawn of human history and consciousness. To its fans, Star Trek has become a form of modern mythology, with its own ethos, purposefulness, and meaningfulness, and with its own epic heroes—whether Captain Kirk in the Original Series or Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery—whose journeys, struggles, and overcoming of obstacles are reminiscent of the existential journeys of classical epic heroes, from Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey to Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy.

In this episode of Meta Treks, hosts Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling discuss the philosophical themes in season one of Star Trek: Discovery, from speculative and theoretical issues in contemporary physics and biology—emergence, panspermia, and panpsychism—to existential questions of self-identity and self-definition—including the rise, fall, and redemption of Michael Burnham, the Federation's struggle to maintain its ideals during wartime and in the face of imminent threats to its very existence, and the emerging unification and national identity of the Klingon Empire.

Chapters Intro (00:01:19) Initial Thoughts About Star Trek: Discovery - Season One (00:2:31) Essential Trek Philosophy Essentials (00:17:19) Context is for Kings (00:19:06) The Vulcan Hello / Battle at the Binary Stars (00:27:07) The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry / Choose Your Pain (00:37:50) Lethe (00:42:43) Will You Take My Hand? (00:50:54) Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad (00:59:03) Final Thoughts (01:04:58) Recap (01:12:48) Closing (01:13:55)

Hosts Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling

Production Mike Morrison (Editor) Zachary Fruhling (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Kay Shaw (Associate Producer) Mark Walker (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

The Definition of Life. "To seek out new life...." Such is the mission statement of Federation starships, to discover and learn as much as possible about life in the universe. But given the diversity of life forms in the Star Trek universe, here on Earth in the real world, and possibly elsewhere in our own galaxy, how do you recognize a new lifeform as life when you first encounter it, especially exotic or non-carbon-based lifeforms? In this episode of Meta Treks, hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison discuss the philosophical and scientific challenges of determining a precise definition of "life," both inside and outside of the Star Trek universe. Is it possible to give a definition of "life" that is broad enough to include radically different forms such as silicon-based life (e.g., the Horta in Star Trek: The Original Series) and non-corporeal life (e.g., the wormhole aliens in Deep Space Nine), but also narrow enough to exclude nonliving entities that merely mimic signs of life? Chapters Welcome to Episode 63 (00:01:07) Dr. Crusher's Definition of Life (00:02:01) Defining "Definition" (00:02:40) Silicon-Based Lifeforms (00:47:30) Non-Corporeal Lifeforms (01:12:09) Other Fringe Lifeforms (01:19:30) Closing (01:30:05) Hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison Production Mike Morrison (Editor) Zachary Fruhling (Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Kay Shaw (Associate Producer) Kit Loffstadt (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager) Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://www.trek.fm/ Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm

The Meaning of Life. Perhaps the most fundamental philosophical question, the most important question of the human condition, is the question, "What is the meaning of life?" In this episode of Meta Treks, hosts Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling explore competing philosophical theories about the meaning of life within the Star Trek universe. Topics covered include the distinction between universal meaning and subjective meaning, meaning as progress and the Federation's progress narrative, colonialism and criticism of the progress narrative, nihilism and the lack of meaning, existentialism and self-chosen individual or cultural meaning, theism and religious meaning, finding meaning in a galactic cultural melting pot, and new questions of meaning in the 21st century that the upcoming Star Trek 2017 series might consider. Chapters Welcome to Episode 12 (00:01:15) Introducing the Topic (00:03:18) Two Approaches: Capital-M "Meaning" vs. lowercase-m "meaning" (00:05:53) Metanarratives and Peace (00:09:09) A Crisis of Meaning in Star Trek? (00:13:58) The Star Trek Answer: Meaning as Progress (00:17:32) Star Trek Beyond: Colonialism and Criticism of the Progress Narrative (00:23:21) Nihilism, Meaninglessness, and Suicide (00:34:06) Existentialism and Self-Chosen Meaning (00:42:34) Theism and Religious Meaning (00:47:40) Meaning in a Cultural Melting Pot (00:53:27) Meaning in the 21st Century and Star Trek 2017 (00:57:02) Final Thoughts (01:00:32)

Children of Time. In the Deep Space Nine episode "Children of Time," Captain Sisko and company discover a planet with a colony of 8,000 descendants of the Defiant crew, the Defiant having been marooned 200 years in the past as a result of the attempt to escape the quantum bubble surrounding the planet. Forced to choose between saving the life of Major Kira and preserving the timeline and lives of their 8,000 descendants (dashing any hope of returning home to their lives and families on Deep Space Nine), Captain Sisko must weigh the lives of 8,000 colonists and descendants, the life of Major Kira, and the individual rights of the Defiant crew members to determine their own destiny. In this episode of Meta Treks, hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison discuss the many philosophical themes and issues in "Children of Time." From phenomenological reflection on genealogy and legacy, to the competing rights at play in this episode's principle ethical dilemma, Zachary and Mike share their perspectives on "Children of Time" and the impact of multi-generational thinking on morality and ethics in the Star Trek universe. Chapters Welcome to Episode 53 (00:01:06) Comparison with Enterprise "E2" (00:02:00) Synopsis of "Children of Time" (00:05:09) The Phenomenology of Genealogy (00:08:53) Legacy and Legend - Multi-Generational Virtues (00:13:25) Worf's Mek'leth and the Things We Leave Behind (00:21:07) The Importance of Telling Our Stories (00:29:52) A Multilayered Ethical Dilemma - The Defiant Problem (00:33:06) The Episode's End - Resolving the Dilemma (00:38:28) Comparison with Judith Jarvis Thomson's Violinist Argument (00:41:54) A Change of Heart and Getting to Know People (00:49:28) Sacrificing the Duplicate Defiant Crew Members (00:55:34) Did Alt-Odo Do the Right Thing? (00:59:38) Temporal Time Lag (01:08:15) Final Thoughts - Quantum Duplicates and the Reset Button (01:12:23) Hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison Production Mike Morrison (Editor and Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Charlynn Schmiedt (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Kay Shaw (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://www.trek.fm/ Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm