The Prime Directive:

A Practical Fictional Social Code of Conduct?

Since it’s first airing almost 35 years ago, Star Trek has become a part of American pop culture. During that time, it has simultaneously entertained and provoked viewers to think on a multitude of issues, those that have concerned us for ages, those that have presented themselves in modern times, and those we may need to deal with in the future. Through example, it has allowed us to view ourselves and think on how we may wish to display ourselves to each other and any future neighbors we may meet. In addressing these ethical issues, it suggested a code of behavior for us to consider following, the Prime Directive. Also known as the Noninterference Directive, Michael Okuda defines it in The Star Trek Encyclopedia as:

The Prime Directive mandates that Starfleet personnel and spacecraft are prohibited from interfering in the normal development of any society, and that any Starfleet vessel or crewmember is expendable to prevent violation of this rule. (261)

The creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, wanted to provoke in those who watched the show a hope that humanity could overcome its problems. He proposed the Prime Directive as an ethical code that could allow rational beings to live with each other in harmony, both now, with each other, and in the future in our explorations and possible encounters with alien beings. And he built it upon the work of some of the great philosophers throughout mankind’s history.

For example, the Prime Directive implies that rational beings and the cultures they form are deserving of respect. This incorporates one of Immanuel Kant’s formulas of the Categorical Imperative as stated in the article “Categorical Imperative” at The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

Act in such a way that you always treat humanity [rational beings], whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end. (n.p.)

This means that Starfleet personnel must recognize that rational beings have a worth as rational beings and are not to be used as tools for any other purposes. They must treat those they meet in their explorations with dignity and respect because those they meet deserve to be treated so, by their very nature, as rational beings. This is illustrated throughout all of the Star Trek series, but a good example is from the original series episode, “Devil in the Dark.” In this episode, Captain Kirk takes his ship to a mining colony where miners are dying mysteriously, crippling operations to extract an important mineral in power generation. They discover a rock creature is killing the miners, but in the process, they also discover the creature is not only intelligent, but protecting its nest of eggs from the miners’ activities. Instead of doing what the miners want and killing it, Kirk has the ship’s doctor treat the injuries the creature has sustained in fighting the miners, and finds a way to communicate with it to reach a compromise. Kirk treated the creature with respect and dignity instead of simply killing it to achieve the goal of reestablishing mining operations.

Another aspect the Prime Directive implies is that rational beings have the right to choose their own ways of doing things and build their cultures to suit their own whims. This is a use of negative active rights, or the right to do as one chooses. Negative rights, regardless of type, are also referred to as noninterference rights, and it seems natural that the Noninterference Directive would include them in its ethical statement. This is further supported by Samuel Pufendorf’s duty theory where every right one has implies a duty on the part of others to respect that right. Starfleet knows that the people its exploration ships meet may not only look strange, but also have ways of doing things and living that may be equally strange to the crews of those ships. Starfleet therefore expects its crews to not only acknowledge those differences, but to respect the choices those people make as their right. This frequently leads to issues where the exploration ship in question may be in a bind. It could easily extract itself from the situation if it ignored this tenant, but instead, attempts to work within the social system encountered to resolve the issue. In the episode “Devil’s Due,” Captain Picard finds his ship in orbit about the planet Ventax, where a woman posing as a thousand year old devil claims the planet, its people, and all things in it’s vicinity as hers per an ancient contract. Instead of simply leaving, he attempts to work within the planet’s social system and calls for arbitration, eventually proving the woman is not who she claims to be and ending the situation using the planets own methods to do so. Picard performs his duty as he sees it by respecting the right of the Ventaxians to choose their own ways of doing things while still saving his ship from enslavement.

A further implication of the Prime Directive is that there is more than one way to do things, be it methods of learning, personal growth, structures of society, etc. The theory of Relativism states that things are relative to a standpoint and that a standpoint is not uniquely privileged over all others. This is not enough to explain this aspect of the Prime Directive however, so we also look to Aristotle’s views on happiness. He believed that happiness must begin from the facts of personal experience, and it is found in the work and life of individuals. Since each individual is going to have a different idea of what it is to be happy, each pursuit of happiness is going to be equally different, and no one individual’s pursuit should take precedence over any other individual’s. We can see this in the episode “Journey’s End.” Captain Picard is presented with a dilemma in this episode. The Federation he serves has signed a treaty with the Cardassian Empire, granting control of the planet Dorvan V. But this planet is the adopted home for a colony of Native American Indians who do not wish to move despite the treaty’s stipulation they do so. The Indians love their new home and since they had no part in the treaty discussions refuse to leave. The local Cardassian captain wishes to take possession of the planet for his people. Picard is also ordered to remove the Indian colonists by any means necessary. Clearly, everyone involved has a different view as to what will make him or her happy and they are at odds. Picard disregards the letter of his orders and negotiates a compromise, allowing the Indians to remain but under Cardassian jurisdiction. Picard recognized that all parties had different desires and that no one party’s desires superceded any other parties. He instead found a middle ground where all could have their desire.

Since there is more than one valid way of doing things, the Prime Directive also implies that it is wrong to judge others and their decisions. James Rachels stated as an aspect of Cultural Relativism that there is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societal code better than any other. David Hume, as quoted in the article “Moral Rationalism” from The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, shows us another approach: “Ought cannot be derived from is.” (n.p.) Judging a societal code requires that we know all the facts that led up to the formation of that code. Since it is impossible to know all those facts without being immersed in that society, there is no logical basis to judge it. In the episode “The Survivors,” Captain Picard encounters a devastated human colony with just two survivors, an older married couple. In investigating, Picard discovers the colony was destroyed by a species called the Husnock, and that the couple is really comprised of an immortal being of immense power and an artificial construction of the human woman he fell in love with and married. The being was a pacifist, and would not act to protect the colony when it was attacked. However, the death of his wife so enraged him, the being used his powers to destroy the Husnock, all of them, everywhere. Picard, while appalled, knows he is not qualified to judge the being for his admitted crime, and leaves the being on the planet.

In following the Prime Directive, Starfleet personnel are expected to sacrifice their ship and their lives if necessary. Starfleet sees the upholding of the Prime Directive as a duty, an action that is morally mandatory. Additionally, Starfleet, by making it General Order 1, sees it as a prima facie duty. As defined by W. D. Ross in the article “Prima Facie Duties” from The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, these duties are: “…a small set of foundational duties we intuitively perceive which are the basis of all moral judgments.” (n.p.) Since upholding the Prime Directive is such a duty, performance of this duty may require self sacrifice on the part of Starfleet crewmembers. This is illustrated in the episode “Bread and Circuses.” Captain Kirk follows a lost civilian ship to a planet that does not yet have space travel. The leader of this planet however is aware of other inhabited planets because the lost civilian ship crashed here. He, however, perceives the aliens as a threat if they are allowed to return to their own home, so he has them participate in their equivalent of Roman gladiator-style games. Kirk and his search party are similarly captured and given the choice of death or bringing down his crew to also participate in these games to prevent them from telling Starfleet of this planet. Kirk however knows that the more people he brings down, the greater the chance one of them could violate the Prime Directive, so he chooses death, as is his duty. Fortunately for him and his landing party, his crew figures out a way to rescue him without violating the Prime Directive or sending down any further people.

The last aspect of the Prime Directive is that both Starfleet and the Federation see it as being universally applicable. This makes use of another of Kant’s formulas as stated in the article “Categorical Imperative” at The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “Act as if the maxim of your action were to become through your will a universal law of nature.” (n.p.) Starfleet crews apply the Prime Directive equally to cultures that are not Federation members, to those that are, to those that are viewed as less developed culturally and technologically, to those that are viewed as better developed culturally and technologically, to allies and enemies, and even into the past and future versions of themselves if they happen to somehow travel in time. A good example of this is shown in the episode “I, Borg.” Here, Captain Picard is given an opportunity to bring a foe of his Federation to its knees, the Borg. The Borg are technologically superior to the Federation, wish to impose Borg ideals on Federation citizens, and have just barely been prevented from eradicating the Federation capital, Earth. Picard finds a crashed Borg scout ship with a single Borg survivor. Since the Borg do not consider individuals to be important, they use technology to suppress individualism for the sake of all Borg. Picard wishes to use this to his advantage by planting a computer virus in the rescued Borg and allowing him to be rescued by an approaching Borg ship. However, Picard’s crew convinces him that no matter how the Borg may view themselves, each one of them is still an individual and deserving of respect as such. In spite of the probability that the Borg will one day destroy the Federation, he universalizes the Prime Directive and allows the rescued Borg to be recovered by his people unaltered.

The Prime Directive as an ethical code has a lot to recommend it. It is in essence a good neighbor policy. Good neighbors generally respect each other as neighbors. They allow each other to build and decorate their homes as they wish, and live as they wish within them. They acknowledge that each neighbor is an individual, is going to be different from every other neighbor, and that each neighbor’s way of life will be different. They generally do not judge each other as good or bad, but base such considerations on their neighbor’s behavior toward others. If they transgress against their neighbor, good neighbors take responsibility for their actions. They view being a good neighbor as a duty that must be performed. And they view the act of being a good neighbor as being universally applicable. The formation of this code clearly has roots in many of the ethical theories mankind has postulated over history. Adopting such a code into practice in today’s world to promote societal harmony was a concern of men like Gene Roddenberry. It clearly would take a lot of time and patience to implement. But that is true of almost anything that is worthwhile.

Works Cited

Barad, Judith, Ph. D with Ed Robertson. The Ethics of Star Trek. New York: Harper Collins Publications, 2000

Hanley, Richard. The Metaphysics of Star Trek. New York: Basic Books, 1997

Okuda, Michael and Denise Okuda. The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books, 1994

Westcott, Emrys. “Relativism.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2001. University of Tennessee. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/r/relativi.htm>

“Categorical Imperative.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2001. University of Tennessee. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/c/catimper.htm>

“Duties and Deontological Ethics.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2001. University of Tennessee. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/d/duties.htm>

“Episode Listing: Bread and Circuses.” StarTrek.com. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.startrek.com/library/tos_episodes/episodes_tos_detail_68746.asp>

“Episode Listing: The Devil in the Dark.” StarTrek.com. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.startrek.com/library/tos_episodes/episodes_tos_detail_68712.asp>

“Episode Listing: Devil’s Due.” StarTrek.com. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.startrek.com/library/tng_episodes/episodes_tng_detail_68480.asp>

“Episode Listing: I, Borg.” StarTrek.com. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.startrek.com/library/tng_episodes/episodes_tng_detail_68552.asp>

“Episode Listing: Journey’s End.” StarTrek.com. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.startrek.com/library/tng_episodes/episodes_tng_detail_68650.asp>

“Episode Listing: The Survivors.” StarTrek.com. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.startrek.com/library/tng_episodes/episodes_tng_detail_68408.asp>

“Moral Rationalism.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2001. University of Tennessee. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/m/m-ration.htm>

“Prima Facie Duties.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2001. University of Tennessee. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/p/primafac.htm>

“Rights.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2001. University of Tennessee. Nov 30, 2002 <http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/r/rights.htm>