Modern Philosophy
The Prime Directive: The Reasons for Maintaining a Policy of Noninterference
The imposition of one’s culture on another is one of the things that is prohibited by the Prime Directive in “Star Trek”. […]
Modern Philosophy
Modern Philosophy
Similarities between “Star Trek’s” Prime Directive and Postcolonialism
Unlike in “Star Trek”, colonialism involved imposing a new way of life on the native cultures—Europe’s religion, economic system, and cultural practice. […]
Modern Philosophy
“Ender’s Game”: War Theory and Its Representations in Science Fiction
War theory is rooted in the writings of St. Augustine, who was trying to reconcile war with Jesus’ pacifism. St. Augustine talks about the conditions for a justifiable war. […]
Modern Philosophy
“Doctor Who” and the Pacifist Argument
A major criticism of pacifism is that it is hypocritical because the only way you can have this freedom to be a conscientious objector is by others fighting to guarantee that freedom. […]
Modern Philosophy
“Starship Troopers”: Critiquing Militarism and Fascism
“Starship Troopers” is a movie about fascists that, on the surface, appears to be an ordinary sci-fi film about war with attacking aliens. However, the movie is a strong critique of fascist ideology. […]
Modern Philosophy
“Star Wars” and Nietzsche’s ‘Master Morality’
A Nietzschean perspective of “Star Wars” would help one see a contest between the ‘slave mentality’ and the ‘master mentality’ in the acclaimed movie franchise. […]
Modern Philosophy
“Star Wars” and the Righteousness of the Rebel Alliance’s Rebellion
We can turn to Bentham and Mill’s utilitarian theory to assess the moral and political rightness of the Rebel Alliance’s rebellion in “Star Wars”. […]
Modern Philosophy
Palpatine and Moral Ambiguity in “Star Wars”
The moral ambiguity of “Star Wars” is not very pronounced. The characters dress clearly in black and white, in accordance with how the script projects them. Only in the case of Palpatine are we forced to decode his moral ambiguity on our own. […]
Modern Philosophy
Physical Continuity and Perdurantism: Understanding Identity
Perdurantism considers a person as not just a body in a specific time and place. A person is a collection—the set of all the moments, or episodes, of his or her existence, bundled together. […]
Modern Philosophy
Psychological Continuity and Personal Identity: “Moon” and “Dollhouse”
From the way identity is explored in Sci-fi, it seems that psychological continuity can exist without singular identity, and that identity can persist without psychological continuity. […]