What is Star Trek's Philosophy?

[Ferengi Prime 5]

What is Star Trek philosophy? Utilitarianism?

"The Needs Of The Many Outweigh The Needs Of The Few" -Spock
The above comment shows Vulcan's follow Utilitarianism philosophy.
I want to point out Khan followed the Utilitarianism philosophy...
I want to point out that the Borg are followers of the Utilitarianism philosophy...

If the Vulcans follow Utilitarianism. I would not be surprised if there were not moments in their history of great genocides on their planet and I offer the idea. The Vulcans should have become a species much like the Borg...

In the movie Star Trek Into Darkness, the opening scene of Kirk's dad sacrificing himself to save the many is a Utilitarian act. I bet we could find many moments in Star Trek's history of utilitarian acts. What is the driving philosophy behind Star Trek? behind the Vulcans?

A video on Utilitarianism...

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[C.E. Evans]

I think Trek's basic philosophy is simply that we all will have a future, and it'll be better than what we have today.

 

[fireproof78]

I think Trek's basic philosophy is simply that we all will have a future, and it'll be better than what we have today.

Pretty much this.

Much is made of the famous Spock quote but Trek rarely bears that out. Many stories are around rescuing one person, or helping them survive.

Trek shows optimism but also.is simple that it expects humanity to continue.

 

[Citiprime]

The core philosophy of Star Trek is Secular Humanism.

Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision making.​

It is the root ethos that flows throughout all of Trek. Humanity, within the franchise, basically "grows up" once it sees the potential from warp drive. Humanity embraces science, technology, and the pursuit of knowledge as the foundation of a new civilization, and the old things, mostly the old evils, fade away.

GENE RODDENBERRY: "As you know, one of the joys of Star Trek, for me, has been the variety of our fans. When I go to conventions and I see people of all sizes and shapes and abilities, and when I see people with nerve disorders that can’t really sit properly and so on, I still know what’s in their mind. They are saying, "In a better world, I can do anything. I’ll be there in a better world. In a better world, they will not laugh at me or look down their nose at me."​

 

[Timofnine]

No need to complicate things:

These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, its continuing mission to seek out new life and new civilisations, to go boldly where no one has gone before.

Seven of Nine will sound great saying that.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Once you have their money, never give it back!

 

[Timofnine]

Once you have their money, never give it back!

Ferengi Rule of Acquisition number 1, I do believe?

 

[Greg Cox]

To a certain degree, it depends on who is creating any given episode or movie. Given that "Star Trek" now consists of 13 movies, close to a dozen different TV series, hundreds of books and comics, created by divers hands over the course of nearly sixty years, trying to find a single, consisting unifying philosophy across all of that is probably a lost cause!

 

[Vger23]

I think we tend to over-complicate Star Trek. It's "philosophy" is that humans will survive localized stupidity here on Earth and go on to have cool space adventures.

Everything else is cake.

 

[Odo]

Good points above, but Trek can also be seen as a push and pull, between creators asserting that humanity has the capacity to create a wonderful, just, and thriving future for themselves, and creators putting that idea under pressure to reveal the complications and contradictions of being human. This goes all the way back to the Two Genes (Roddenberry and Coon).

 

[Ferengi Prime 5]

The Ferengi philosophy is given to us with their Rules of Acquisition. The Vulcans give us a utilitarianism quote which implies many of them follow a utilitarianism type of Philosophy. I can argue if utilitarianism was central to being Vulcan then in their history they most likely would have had their own Kahns' or in time should have morphed into a Borg-type menace to the universe. A thought...

 

[fireproof78]

Good points above, but Trek can also be seen as a push and pull, between creators asserting that humanity has the capacity to create a wonderful, just, and thriving future for themselves, and creators putting that idea under pressure to reveal the complications and contradictions of being human. This goes all the way back to the Two Genes (Roddenberry and Coon).

Yes, because the human adventure has just begun.

The Ferengi philosophy is given to us with their Rules of Acquisition. The Vulcans give us a utilitarianism quote which implies many of them follow a utilitarianism type of Philosophy. I can argue if utilitarianism was central to being Vulcan then in their history they most likely would have had their own Kahns' or in time should have morphed into a Borg-type menace to the universe. A thought...

I mean, they nearly destroyed themselves and use logic to restrict themselves to the point of needing ritual to manage basic mating instincts,

It's utilitarian up to a point.

 

[Oddish]

Definitely not utilitarianism. Remember that in "Man of the People", Picard was ready to force Alcar to break his link with Troi, even knowing that he would be unwilling or unable to do his job. This would have effectively sentenced thousands of people to death... to save one. That is the opposite of utilitarianism.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I have (seriously) always thought that the very core philosophy of Star Trek is basically: ‘Try to accept new things and don’t be a dick.’

 

[Ferengi Prime 5]

The Klingons have a spiritual relationship with death. Are not the Klingons a glorified Death Cult... The Klingon catchphrase "It's a good day to die." speaks Death Cult... The Klingons cry out into the air over a fellow dead Klingon to announce their arrival into Stovokor. Does that not scream Death Cult?... not Warrior society...

 

[Victoria]

Everything else is cake.

Or death

 

[at Quark's]

I don't think Star Trek has that much real underlying philosophy, as it simply being a daydream to answer a hypothetical question: 'What could our future look like if only we learned to be less selfish, strove to be a bit better every day and were willing to deal with issues with a broader mindset than we do today?' (With a bit of fantastic technology and aliens thrown in for window dressing).

 

[Lord Garth]

There are two viewpoints held by characters in Star Trek.

Liberal: "Humanity has changed."
Conservative: "Humanity hasn't changed."

Then we see this ongoing argument unfold across the series and movies.

DISCLAIMER (just to be on the safe side): This is what "liberal" and "conservative" would mean in Star Trek, which is different from what they mean in the 21st Century.

 

[Bornin1980something]

Definitely not utilitarianism. Remember that in "Man of the People", Picard was ready to force Alcar to break his link with Troi, even knowing that he would be unwilling or unable to do his job. This would have effectively sentenced thousands of people to death... to save one. That is the opposite of utilitarianism.

That is one story that had some commentators accuse Star Trek of extreme individualism.

 

[Wingcommanderdarkwolf01]

Starship go zoom zoom.