The Offspring

[Mojochi]

If there was ever a possibility that Data could, conceivably, be viewed as property, then why was he allowed to enter Starfleet in the first place? I can't shake the feeling that the very fact that Data IS in Starfleet, is automatically proof that he is a fully sentient being and is no one's property. It should never have been an issue once Data successfully entered the Academy.

I mean, surely it's a condition of admission to Starfleet that all applicants must be sentient (I can't even consider why they would allow a being to serve in Starfleet if it was NOT sentient). So if Data is allowed in, therefore he must, by definition and retroactively, BE sentient. Right?

Easily. That's my only real gripe about the episode. You have to suspend a lot of disbelief to get past that. The only reason it was brought to trial, was maybe because no one had ever made the claim, & once it was made, the judge actually found some mysterious statute on the books to support it. The statue was called The Act's Of Cumberland

 

[Mojochi]

The logic being thus:

- Data is a Starfleet officer.
- Therefore, Data must have completed Starfleet Academy studies.
- All applicants to Starfleet must be sentient.
- Therefore, Data (as an Academy graduate) must be sentient.
- A sentient being cannot, under any circumstances, be property.
- Data, being sentient, therefore is not property. End of episode.

You have to remember that Maddox opposed Data's entry on the very same grounds of no sentience. He was outvoted, but we don't know the conditions of that event. Perhaps it was left ambiguous enough that there was still room to maneuver after the fact. Lord knows Starfleet can be ambiguous

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I always thought the initial concept of Data had him more as a bionic than mechanical being.
And Starfleet's analysis of him changed over time as well.

At the beginning of TNG it has been Doctor Crusher as the go-to person whenever Data had any "health" problems.

His body seemed to function in a very biological way to require a medical doctor's help.

It started with Datalore that they realized, hey wait a sec, THIS is what Data looks like from the inside?

Apparantly they never tried to "cut him open", and why would they? They wouldn't do that with a traditional lifeform.

Data emulated many biological functions perfectly and even emitted something similar to lifesigns to a medical tricorder.

It took several seasons to see a shift to LaForge as a much better suited "doctor" for Data problems.

Maddox showed up AFTER the true mechanical nature of Data became known.
It is easy to believe that his reevaluation of Data's nature gave him the incentive to start his experiments in the first place.
But this was long after Data started his career in Starfleet and became a command level officer fulfilling that position with excellence.
So that was a bit of an obstacle for Maddox which he tried but failed to overcome.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I always thought the initial concept of Data had him more as a bionic than mechanical being.
And Starfleet's analysis of him changed over time as well.

At the beginning of TNG it has been Doctor Crusher as the go-to person whenever Data had any "health" problems.

His body seemed to function in a very biological way to require a medical doctor's help.

It started with Datalore that they realized, hey wait a sec, THIS is what Data looks like from the inside?

Apparantly they never tried to "cut him open", and why would they? They wouldn't do that with a traditional lifeform.

Data emulated many biological functions perfectly and even emitted something similar to lifesigns to a medical tricorder.

It took several seasons to see a shift to LaForge as a much better suited "doctor" for Data problems.

Maddox showed up AFTER the true mechanical nature of Data became known.
It is easy to believe that his reevaluation of Data's nature gave him the incentive to start his experiments in the first place.
But this was long after Data started his career in Starfleet and became a command level officer fulfilling that position with excellence.
So that was a bit of an obstacle for Maddox which he tried but failed to overcome.

On the contrary.

In Encounter at Farpoint, Data described himself on screen both as an "android" and as a "machine". In Encounter at Farpoint and in The Naked Now, Data was described on screen as being "programmed".

There's never been any doubt as to Data being an android and a machine, capable of being programmed.

 

[Mojochi]

Yeah, it always struck me that Crusher was the go to person, until everyone else (Mostly Geordi) became familiar enough with Data's tech, mainly because Data's tech was so closely emulating human bio-systems, but there never any doubt he was mechanical in nature

Crusher remained a go to person right up to season 7. In fact, it would seem that Data may actually be treated as any other medical emergency, when the situation arises, like in Deja-Q, when he gets taken down saving Q from the Calamarain, they take him to sickbay & call in Geordi, as if he is a specialist. Also , in Thine Own Self, Data awakes in Sickbay from having been speared & deactivated, & I don't even recall Geordi being there