What would Mill think of Star Trek’s Prime Directive? Is he right?
Guideline: What would Mill think of Star Trek’s Prime Directive? Is he right? OR 2. Is Mill’s position in The Subjection of Women compatible with his position in On Liberty?
What would Mill think of Star Trek’s Prime Directive? Is he right?
Choose one topic from below and write an essay.
1. What would Mill think of Star Trek’s Prime Directive? Is he right? OR 2.
Is Mill’s position in The Subjection of Women compatible with his position in On Liberty?
Or does he rely in the former book upon a different conception of “harm” than in On Liberty? OR 3.
Mill provides a consequentialist defense of free expression rather than a rights-based defense. Does Mill’s argument work?
More Details:
Within the Star Trek universe, the Prime Directive is a crucial regulation that is binding on Starfleet personnel. How well does it work as an ethical rule?
The Prime Directive (officially Starfleet Order 1) is a prohibition on interference with the other cultures and civilizations representatives of Starfleet encounter in their exploration of the universe.
In particular, the Prime Directive is aimed at preventing interference with the internal development of civilizations that are less technologically advanced.
The executive summary of the order given in the 1968 episode “Bread and Circuses” is:
Even though Starfleet officers take an oath to uphold the Prime Directive even if it means sacrificing their own lives or the lives of their crews, as practiced, across several episodes of the various Star Trek series, it was not inviolable.
Captain James T. Kirk seemed to violate it with some regularity, and sticklers for Starfleet regulations could go into detail about circumstances in which strict adherence to the Prime Directive is not required.
That said, how does the Prime Directive fare as a general approach to the ethics of sharing a universe?
The Prime Directive reflects both a consequentialist commitment to reducing harm and a Kantian commitment to respecting the autonomy of others.