S
Spicy Thunder
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Wouldn't this go against his ethical subroutine? There may be an obvious reason for this, but I can't see it.
Data can kill people. Remember he was going to gun down that collector guy.
Surely the same ethical subroutine compels him to protect his crew mates?
The EMH also has an ethical subroutine. While it touched on both issues of loyalty and general conduct, it was distinct from the Hippocratic oath, and its presence or absence did not seem to affect he Doctor's willingness to use deadly force (say, photon torpedoes) against designated enemies or perceived threats. This from an AI that was not intended to be part of the society, mingling and contributing.
Data is not programmed not to kill. He is not programmed not to use contractions or lies, either. He is merely programmed to be polite, in harmonious measure with his physical and mental superiority, for the purposes of mingling. He has found an unlikely niche in a profession involving killing. He is comfortable with it, and may even find it to his liking, if sharing ambition or sentiment with his rather megalomaniac father-creator. If there is conflict in his mind... Well, he hides it well. And mingles.
Timo Saloniemi
Data is not programmed not to kill. He is not programmed not to use contractions or lies, either. He is merely programmed to be polite, in harmonious measure with his physical and mental superiority, for the purposes of mingling. He has found an unlikely niche in a profession involving killing. He is comfortable with it, and may even find it to his liking, if sharing ambition or sentiment with his rather megalomaniac father-creator. If there is conflict in his mind... Well, he hides it well. And mingles.
Timo Saloniemi
Efficiency. The Borg are a clear and present threat, and killing them is the most efficient way of neutralizing said threat.
The question assumes that Data's ethical reasoning would be simplistic, i.e. "never kill anybody, ever." But applied ethics involves more nuanced thought, weighing various factors, etc. Even if he does have some kind of very basic "don't hurt or kill anyone" directive, Data is designed in such a way that he grows beyond his original programming. All that Starfleet coursework probably included plenty of study of ethics, which would have helped him grow in just that manner.
Star Trek: Insurrection shows that he does indeed have such simplistic ethical subroutines as a fail-safe, but that only takes over when he is damaged and malfunctioning, and his higher thinking abilities are switched off.
Kor
Star Trek: Insurrection shows that he does indeed have such simplistic ethical subroutines as a fail-safe, but that only takes over when he is damaged and malfunctioning, and his higher thinking abilities are switched off.
Kor
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If Data's subroutines forbade him to kill under any circumstance, why would he have joined Starfleet and accepted such a "field" commission in the first place? Everyone knows that doing your duty as a Starfleet officer can imply the application of (potential) lethal force in some (combat) situations, even if Starfleet's philosophy is to minimise that.
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Data doesn't have a field commission. Field commission means his commission was granted to him in the field, but we know he attended and graduated the Academy and was granted his commission as a result of that.
Self-Defense.
And if Data can't kill an enemy if necessary, than he's a liability to the ship because he can't be depended on.
And if Data can't kill an enemy if necessary, than he's a liability to the ship because he can't be depended on.
Something else I just thought of, stun settings probably don't work on the Borg anyway. If it did, Data and Worf could have just stunned Locutus in TBOBW instead of wrestling with him the way they did.
It's pretty obvious that Data can and will kill if needed - he would have washed out of the academy otherwise. You cannot have an officer of the line who in a combat situation might need to assume command (he was 3rd officer right?) and would be unwilling to kill to defend the ship.
Ah, of course. I simply meant to say: why would he have agreed to such a post "in the field" (instead of a 'safe' desk job if he had to be in Starfleet for some reason in the first place)
Second officer, which means third in the chain of command.
Because the Federation had made too many compromises already. Too many retreats. The Borg invaded Federation space, and the Federation fell back. The Borg assimilated entire worlds, and the Federation fell back. Not again. The line had to be drawn there. No further. And Data was going to make them pay for what they had done.
