Roddenberrys Vision of Epistemology :: essays research papers

The television series Star Trek mystifying Space 9 takes stern on a space station where different planets cultures, morals and religious values collide. These differences cause the conflicts that form the basis of the stories. Some people in these cultures jumper lead very nominalistic lifestyles, while others are more realistic and extremely devout in their beliefs in their Gods. These differences can be seen in episodes such as In The Hands of the Prophets, The Abandoned, or Life Support. The struggle between nominalism and realism has been a familiar idea on earth ever since the theme of a God was introduced. This same struggle will always exist forever unless there is some definitive proof of God. The more realist ideas of Descartes and John Locke assist in ones understanding of Star Treks themes. Descartes and Lockes epistemological philosophies are reflected in the philosophical aspect of Gene Roddenberrys ideal society.As Star Treks creator, Gene Roddenberry has had a huge military group on the philosophical beliefs reflected in the manoeuvre. Most episodes are a direct mirror image of his thoughts. Since he was a teenager, Roddenberry strongly questioned the validity of religion and became an freethinker in The Humanist Interview, he said religion was largely nonsense largely magical, superstitious things. In my own teen life, I just couldnt see any point in adopting something based on magic, which was obviously phony and superstitious.i When commenting on his prototypal experiences doubting religion. His views on religion first appeared on Star Trek The Original Series when he refused to have a chaplain aboard the starship Enterprise. Since that early point, Roddenberry rarely addressed the issue of religion. Deep Space 9, the first series that he did not produce, developed episodes using religious themes. Although Roddenberry did not directly influence this series, his beliefs about realism and nominalism however utilise in the episodes. Ev en though Roddenberry was a humanist, he did not completely reject all religions or the people who followed them. Tolerance was one of his best traits, and it was communicate in Deep Space 9, through the large diversity of species and religions and the deep personalities of their members. Even though most species did not believe in each others religions, they were still able to learn from each other. While the religions found in Star Trek are fictional, they still contain value, both to the other characters on the show as well as to the viewers.