Meta Treks: A Star Trek Philosophy Podcast

Crime and Punishment.   Many different forms of punishment are depicted in Star Trek. From the Risa-like Federation penal colony in New Zealand to engramatic purges and twenty-year virtual prison sentences, Meta Treks hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison discuss the ethics of the various forms of punishment seen in the Star Trek universe. Zachary and Mike debate the different possible justifications of punishment in general, such as punishment as a deterrent, punishment as getting what you deserve, punishment as maximizing social utility, punishment as repaying a debt to society, punishment as redemption, and punishment as education. Given the real-world issues of increasing prison populations and the culture of criminalization, Star Trek provides a model of the best (and sometimes the worst) of human nature and of our ideals about how to handle the ever-present problems of crime and punishment in society.   Chapters  Welcome to Episode 29 (00:01:06) New iTunes Review (00:02:45) The Ready Room - 200th Ep