Summary of Kevin S. Decker & Jason T. Eberl's Star Trek and Philosophy

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 Star Trek has always aimed to be cultural literacy, and the show has quotations from Shakespeare throughout its episodes. The middle of the play, where the French princess and her attendant speak French, is a clear example of that.
#2 The premise of French-English translation being easy to understand is a common one in science fiction, as it allows the audience to follow along. However, the assumption that different languages simply name the things of the world differently is not always true.
#3 The picture of language that Wittgenstein sought to escape is the one that we saw embodied in Henry V, which he found in St. Augustine’s account in his Confessions. It states that language simply names objects, and that every word has a meaning that is correlated with the word.
#4 For Wittgenstein, the meaning of a word is not its correspondence to a thing, but the way it is used in the world to make sense of it. He argues that language and life are inseparable, and that to understand language, we must understand life.

Sujets

• Télévision

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 04 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669349440
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Kevin S. Decker & Jason T. Eberl's Star Trek and Philosophy
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9 Insights from Chapter 10 Insights from Chapter 11 Insights from Chapter 12 Insights from Chapter 13 Insights from Chapter 14 Insights from Chapter 15 Insights from Chapter 16 Insights from Chapter 17 Insights from Chapter 18
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Star Trek has always aimed to be cultural literacy, and the show has quotations from Shakespeare throughout its episodes. The middle of the play, where the French princess and her attendant speak French, is a clear example of that.

#2

The premise of French-English translation being easy to understand is a common one in science fiction, as it allows the audience to follow along. However, the assumption that different languages simply name the things of the world differently is not always true.

#3

The picture of language that Wittgenstein sought to escape is the one that we saw embodied in Henry V, which he found in St. Augustine’s account in his Confessions. It states that language simply names objects, and that every word has a meaning that is correlated with the word.

#4

For Wittgenstein, the meaning of a word is not its correspondence to a thing, but the way it is used in the world to make sense of it. He argues that language and life are inseparable, and that to understand language, we must understand life.

#5

For Wittgenstein, moving between two languages may not be a simple matter of finding the equivalences between two sets of names. It may involve complex negotiations between two different forms of life.

#6

When he writes about talking animals and explorers entering strange lands, Wittgenstein makes us think of some of the archetypal sci-fi scenes. But science fiction writers have been reluctant to take up the challenge Wittgenstein poses to the idea of easy translation between alien languages.

#7

The Universal Translator failed completely in its attempt to translate the Tamarian language, but Picard was able to figure out how it worked by thinking on the level of the whole sentence rather than the individual word.

#8

The Tamarian language is not like any other. It is not rooted in a world of self-subsistent objects, but rather in a people’s distinctive culture and history.

#9

The idea of cultural literacy, which E. D. Hirsch Jr. illustrated with a personal anecdote, is that reading is not simply an abstract skill, but rather something that is contingent on developing vocabulary. Reading is not just about decoding written messages, but also about understanding common discourse.

#10

The controversy surrounding Darmok focused on the fact that the crew lacked the specific cultural context that the Tamarians had when they spoke to one another. The crew lacked the rules of the Tamarian language, but they understood what was being said because of their Great Books knowledge.

#11

Star Trek has been criticized for its heavyhanded exposition, but that is what weekly television is like. The writers must be applauded for operating well above the normal level of television fare.

#12

Darmok is a great example of how Star Trek can explore philosophical issues. It does not do so extensively, but at least it allows the audience to consider the bizarre possibilities that arise from the show’s premise.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The philosophy of Vulcan, which is the subject of this book, is the result of the teachings of Surak, who lived in the fourth century A. D. He established logic as the soul of Vulcan, and it has remained fundamental to their culture ever since.

#2

On Vulcan, humans were confronted with the same problems as Vulcans: violence and war driven by fear and greed. Humans developed sophisticated technologies of killing, and invented ideologies to rationalize killing. But the real motivation came down to irrational desires for power and control.

#3

Vulcan logic is a form of ethical logic that was developed by Surak. It is based on the principle that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. It implies that it is ethically necessary that the behaviors of individuals be regulated by social consideration, and to do otherwise results in disadvantage to all.

#4

The Vulcan sense of self is very different from human egoism. Vulcans have seven senses that include the five senses known to humans and a sixth animal sense that is the ability to sense the presence of disturbance in magnetic fields.

#5

The first two stages of Samadhi are ethical in nature, and consist of five restraints and five observances. The five restraints are: non-harming, non-lying, non-stealing, sensory control, and non-possessiveness.

#6

The third stage of Yogic practice is called Asanas, which includes the physical exercises commonly associated with Yoga. The fourth stage is known as Pranayama, which is the cultivation of the life force energy. This naturally comes about through the Yogic exercises and is magnified when meditation is practiced alongside it.

#7

The last three stages of Yogic practice are concentration, meditation, and samadhi. Samadhi is deep meditation, and meditation is prolonged concentration.