Logic and morality, or why I hate Vulcans
I saw the new Star Trek movie a few weeks ago, and there is one scene that has been scarred into my brain because it struck so close to home. As a child Spock answers various questions of logic, mathematics, and physics. He also answers an ethics question with "it is morally praiseworthy but not morally obligatory." The fact that this answer is given is a series of questions that are all treated the same way and answered with the same conviction perfectly capture the Vulcan idea that morality and the best action in any given situation can be derived from logic. My dad is a serious trekkie (well, about the original series, but none of the spin offs), and I grew up with Star Trek as a constant background. My dad clearly admired the Vulcan mindset and instilled in me the value of logic to the exclusion of emotion, which made me insufferably moralizing for a while, and then completely broke me when the drive to learn the truth undermined my very reason for doing so. By the end of my Sophomore year and the beginning of my Junior year I had completely devoted myself to trying to live in (what I took to be) accordance with pure logic and reason. When I saw that this position was itself illogical it all fell apart.
Basically, what I'm saying is that I blame Star Trek for why my head was so fucked for years. Well, I think it was worth it to get where I am now. It is a little discussed phenomenon that if you are lucky there is existential joy on the far side of existential angst.
3 comments:
Perhaps this is an issue of interpretation. Viewers are actually supposed to support the Romulans who have rejected strict adherence to logic. The show focuses mostly on Spock to serve as a cautionary tale. :)
i am not particularly familiar with star trek in general, but i did see the new movie and i agree with ben that we were supposed to feel kinda weird about super-vulcan spock and feel good when he decided to embrace his illogical humanness. hmm, i would be curious about how that compares to older star trek stuff and representations of him and vulcans, and what it might mean that this movie implied that illogic is more human and better. i guess the romulans were far from heroes as well, so maybe the take home lesson is actually moderation (who'd'a thunk?).
anyway, mostly i wanted to comment to say i was really glad to read the last paragraph of this entry.
My point about the movie is that it encapsulated the Vulcan view accurately, not that it was enticing. In the original series Kirk and others are constantly trying to get Spock to be a bit more emotional, but it is never cut and dry as to whether it would better for Spock to be more emotional or for Kirk to be more rational or both. At any rate, my dad liked Vulcans, and that made a big impression on me, regardless of how the creators intended Vulcans to be seen.
Thanks, Stacia. I'm really glad to be in a position to write it.
Post a Comment