The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy: The Search for Socrates (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series) by Kevin S. Decker

The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy: The Search for Socrates (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series) Reviews

• 
  Chris Comerford

  A solid collection of essays spanning philosophy, psychology and the rest of the humanities gamut. A few contributions felt a bit structurally flimsy, and the concluding sections on theology got a little too in love with their own metaphysics. The number of final sentences which utilised some horrible Trek-related pun also got a bit much.
  
  Overall, though, a prime tome of Star Trek essays for the discerning pop culture philosopher. Pieces on transhumanism, moral integrity, utopian futures and the power of humanism were aplenty, and quite accessible to both the layman and the veteran researcher. One for the bookshelf.
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  Jera Em

  I really enjoyed this book. There are a wide variety of perspectives on Trek and we get a great look at the different philosophies and beliefs that have popped up throughout Trek history. The nature of the show is ideal for exploring all kinds of ideas and it's awesome to see these ideas tackled in one book. Star Trek is also the kind of the show that is often up for interpretation, so once again ideal for a book about philosophy. I particularly enjoyed "Destroying Utopias: Why Kirk Is a Jerk," "Resistance Is Negligible: In Praise of Cyborgs," and "Romanticism in 'A City on the Edge of Forever'" specifically and all the articles on the Q Continuum and the Borg more generally. Definitely worth checking out!
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  Jarrah

  I was really impressed by how succinct and accessible the essays in this collection were. Whether it was reading about the links between Kant's Categorical Imperative and the Prime Directive, musings on what might justify Q to put humanity on trial, or holodecks and the nature of reality, the pieces never felt like a slog. I don't have an extensive academic background in philosophy and appreciated how the authors clearly but quickly explained key philosophical theories, in a way that didn't bog down the rest of the pieces.
  
  I have a few minor issues with this collection. One is that there was a fair amount of overlap in subject matter, particularly themes of self-hood and autonomy and their relationship to the Borg, as well as characters like Data and Odo. The other is that there are a few essays in the collection (such as the essay on the Klingon cultural pastiche and the one on Indigenous narratives and symbolism in Trek) that are more about a straightforward account of what we've seen on screen, enriched with a little behind-the scenes or secondary source information, but without a significant new argument that I could see. For me these pieces will likely be useful sources if I ever write on those topics, but I didn't find them as interesting to read as the people who had more creative theses. The collection, with a few exceptions, doesn't really try to showcase diverse perspectives or intersectional critique of the series or the philosophical theories that essays are based on. But overall I found it an enjoyable and enlightening read.
• 
  Ernest

  A good overview of how western philosophy has been explored in the Star Trek series. This book is best appreciated by someone who has seen the various movies, the original series, next generation, deep space nine, voyager, and enterprise. This book would make an interesting college intro or seminar philosophy class. Topics discussed: religion, humanism, capitalism, communism, utilitarianism, consciousness, and many more.
• 
  Clarence Reed

  ReedIII Quick Review: Wonderful thought provoking book for all Star Trek fans. Forces the psychological contemplation of “what if … ” and “why … ”. Good discussion topics that are better with Star Trek knowledge.
• 
  Chuck Ellis

  An interesting read, reminded me of my time as an undergraduate media studies major at university.
• 
  William Schram

  Star Trek is a series and overall franchise that I have heard of but never got the opportunity to get into. Here is my situation with this. When I was a child, I was more of a Star Wars(SW) kid, since it was easier to understand and had a lower barrier of entry. Allow me to explain. When I was a child, the prequel movies had not come out yet, so there were only three SW movies. Now that I am older, I regret not getting into ST, but at the same time, I don’t know where to begin. Do I start with The Original Series with Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and so on? Do I begin with The Next Generation series with Captain Picard, Data, Q, and all of them? There are three other mainline series as well, with Voyager, Deep Space 9, and Enterprise. Now I know Enterprise is a prequel to the original series, but I also heard it wasn’t as good. I also don’t perceive myself as having the time to watch that many shows. Don’t even get me started on the movies. In any case, that is my position on ST.
  
  This book is a fusion of philosophy and popular culture, taking the themes from a series, in this case, it is Star Trek, and applying philosophy to the stories. ST is a fertile field of study for this as I am now being made aware. All of the series have their Captains and some way to push the envelope and make discussions happen. With the Original Series, if I remember correctly, some executives chided Gene Roddenberry because they didn’t think a woman would be able to become an officer on a futuristic space ship. A lot of the episodes were open-ended in the sense that there wasn’t a clearly correct answer. It deals with moral quandaries that go deeper than good and evil; there are shades of gray. This can be explored really well since Science Fiction allows for a large cast of human-like characters that have different philosophies and ideals. Take the Borg for instance. The reason why they are perceived as evil is that they take away the autonomy of an individual. They are a cyborg entity that exists to assimilate all life and technology on the road to perfection. This allows for some good episodes.
  
  In any case, the book is really good and introduced me to a number of things through Star Trek. The book has 31 essays divided among five main sections. The sections are organized according to a theme. There isn’t really much else to say about it.
• 
  Matt Person

  Unfortunately I'm starting to think the publishers/editors are starting to spread the pop culture and philosophy series a bit too thin.... especially the "Ultimate" volumes that expand on earlier entries. I really felt this volume had too much overlap between essays. In fact at one point I remember thinking to myself, GOD (the secular non Judeo-Christian entity imagined by Roddenberry mind you) NOT ANOTHER chapter on how the prime directive is Kantian or Spock's "needs of the many" is Utilitarian. Or let's talk about the contrast Hugh/Seven of Nine bring to the ruthless Borg collectivism. Isn't the job of the producers or editors to guide contributors on how to produce unique content? Or is it more like, just write any crap about philosophy and Star Trek you want, we know it will sell.
  
  That said there are some absolute gems in this collection. Especially Walter Robinson's treatise of the native American themes in Trek. He actually calls out the inaccuracies in TOS of depicting Navajo, Mohegan, and Delaware tribes living in wigwams and tepees in the same setting while exploring the philosophy of native American inspired episodes without teetering into the realm of pedantic-ism. Dara Fogel's Holodeck chapter is quite clever as well as it explores the Godelian "strange loop" of the Moriarty ship in a bottle paradox and the implications that might have on our own version of life. And also a few ones that nail the teleological/deontological dualisms. Just I don't need 1/2 this book to be on those dualisms.
• 
  Roger Thompson

  I teach a course called Ethics of the Future: Analysing Science Fiction Films at Kyung Hee University in South Korea, and the class focuses exclusively on Star Trek TOS. I use several chapters from this book in my class concerning the Star Trek Philosophy of Peace and the chapter on Kirk destroying utopias, as in This Side of Paradise and The Apple. I like the fact that this book contains references to the animated series, but am far less enthusiastic about the materials concerning the awful reboots that started in 2009, hence I can only give it four stars instead of five. If you love real Star Trek and want a guide to the philosophical issues in it, this is your book. Live long and prosper. Roger Thompson MA FRAS FRSA, Assistant Professor, Kyung Hee University, Korea.
• 
  Andreas

  A very nice collection of essays about philosophical questions and issues in Star Trek and a good introduction to philosophical concepts especially for those Trekkies who know the Star Trek catalog nearly by heart. The authors give a lot of references and examples from every Star Trek Show and movie until about 2015/16. They also see some decisions made by characters in the show critical, which works to further explain certain concepts and moral dilemma.
• 
  Zhelana

  These were interesting enough as I read them, but they didn't stick in my mind at all, and I don't remember any of what we talked about in this book. I think I'm giving up on the whole series after this. I keep saying the same things about them.
• 
  Linus

  Excellent read, combining the best of Star Trek (all series sans Discovery and Picard) and Western (and to a smaller degree) Eastern philosophy. Highly recommended to anyone keen on going where "No Man has Gone Before"!
• 
  Jeff

  It was long and became a little stale after 39 or so essays, but was still somewhat interesting. It was not as good as Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy, but really, what could be?
• 
  Mills College Library

  791.4575 S7955 2016