Meta Treks: A Star Trek Philosophy Podcast - 30: Riker Rejuvenated

30: Riker Rejuvenated

06/06/16 • 83 min

Meta Treks: A Star Trek Philosophy Podcast

The Philosophy of Insurrection. Coming off the heels of the blockbuster success of Star Trek: First Contact, the next TNG-era feature film Star Trek: Insurrection returned to Star Trek's philosophical roots by focusing on a strong moral dilemma, social commentary, and character interaction. Although Insurrection is not usually cited as a fan-favorite among TNG-era Star Trek films, Insurrection is a classic Star Trek morality play containing an impressive number of philosophical layers, given its otherwise lighthearted tone. In this episode of Meta Treks: A Star Trek Philosophy Podcast, hosts Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling explain their fondness for Star Trek: Insurrection and discuss its interwoven philosophical themes, such as the ethics of forced relocation and eminent domain, balancing the needs of the many with the rights of the few, civil disobedience and the responsibility to act on moral conviction, anti-technological social commentary, the themes of family and reconciliation, the Ba'ku Fountain of Youth and the meaning of life in the 24th Century, and the importance of finding joy in small moments, even in the face of great trials. Chapters Welcome to Episode 30 (00:01:32) Memories of Star Trek: Insurrection (00:03:36) Initial Thoughts (00:06:27) Relocating the Ba'ku - The Needs of the Many vs. the Rights of the Few (00:16:14) Comparing Insurrection and TNG "Journey's End" (00:26:04) Moral Conviction and Civil Disobedience - The Responsibility to Act (00:29:14) The Ba'ku and Anti-Technological Social Commentary (00:34:57) Reconciliation Theme (00:39:40) The Fountain of Youth and the Meaning of Life (00:43:07) The Human Condition - Finding Joy in Small Moments (00:51:31) Son'a as Prodigal Children (00:55:14) Are the Son'a in Thomas Hobbes's State of Nature? (00:59:39) Final Thoughts (01:06:25) Hosts Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling Production Dennis Castello (Editor and Producer) Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Charlynn Schmiedt (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Will Nguyen (Content Manager) 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

Previous Episode

29: Punishment Protocol 9-Alpha

Crime and Punishment. Many different forms of punishment are depicted in Star Trek. From the Risa-like Federation penal colony in New Zealand to engramatic purges and twenty-year virtual prison sentences, Meta Treks hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison discuss the ethics of the various forms of punishment seen in the Star Trek universe. Zachary and Mike debate the different possible justifications of punishment in general, such as punishment as a deterrent, punishment as getting what you deserve, punishment as maximizing social utility, punishment as repaying a debt to society, punishment as redemption, and punishment as education. Given the real-world issues of increasing prison populations and the culture of criminalization, Star Trek provides a model of the best (and sometimes the worst) of human nature and of our ideals about how to handle the ever-present problems of crime and punishment in society. Chapters Welcome to Episode 29 (00:01:06) New iTunes Review (00:02:45) The Ready Room - 200th Episode (00:06:35) Initial Thoughts on Punishment in Star Trek (00:10:15) Luxurious Federation Penal Colonies (00:12:19) Federation vs. Non-Federation Punishment (00:13:30) Possible Justifications for Punishment (00:15:21) Intentionality and Gradations of Punishment (00:19:06) The Death Penalty in TOS "The Menagerie" (00:21:02) The Variety of Punishments in Star Trek (00:26:49) Virtual Punishment - Chief O'Brien in DS9 "Hard Time" (00:29:49) Engramatic Purge - B'Elanna Torres in VOY "Random Thoughts" (00:35:59) Paying Debt to Society (00:41:00) The Evolution and Future of the Prison - Michael Foucault (00:44:09) The Bell Riots and the Culture of Criminalization (00:48:14) The Punishment Box in DS9 "Paradise" (00:55:23) Klingons - The Presumption of Guilt and Hereditary Punishment (00:58:12) Compassion and Punishment - Cue the Picard Speech (01:06:05) The Role of Anger and Disgust - Vulcan Logic or Human Emotion? (01:11:46) Zachary's Final Thoughts (01:20:41) Mike's Final Thoughts (01:27:23) HostsZachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison ProductionDennis Castello (Editor and Producer) Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Charlynn Schmiedt (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Will Nguyen (Content Manager) 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

Next Episode

31: Performative Bloodletting

Speech Acts and Performative Utterances. In this episode of Meta Treks, hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison discuss the philosophical and linguistic issues of speech acts and performative utterances. Many different kinds of speech acts can be found inside Star Trek, including taking oaths and granting promotions, saying wedding vows and pronouncing marriages, naming androids and christening starships, auto-destruct commands, replicator orders, and transfers of command, to name a few. Zachary and Mike discuss different examples of performative utterances in Star Trek and the role they play in a free society. In addition, Zachary and Mike consider objections to the concepts of speech acts and performative utterances from the philosophical standpoints of relativism and reductionism. Chapters Welcome to Episode 31 (00:01:23) What are Speech Acts and Performative Utterances? (00:02:25) Wedding Vows in Star Trek (00:12:32) Speech Acts and Cultural Relativism (00:25:25) Klingons and Ritual Storytelling (00:29:24) Promotions and Transfers of Command (00:32:35) Does Reductionism Undermine the Concept of Speech Acts? (00:35:30) The Importance of Speech Acts in a Free Society (00:43:42) Finding the Essentials in Promotions and Pageantry (00:47:32) Christening the Enterprise - The Strange Act of Naming (00:50:34) Oaths and Voting as Speech Acts (00:54:04) Auto-Destruct Commands (01:01:24) "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" - Creating Reality with Words (01:03:43) Final Thoughts (01:10:41) Hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison Production Mike Morrison (Editor and Producer) Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Charlynn Schmiedt (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Kay Elizabeth Janeway (Associate Producer) Will Nguyen (Content Manager) 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