Abstract
Star Trek, through fictional narrative, conveys what is the prime philosophical debate of the modern era. On the one hand, there is Karl Marx and his prominent revolutionary acolyte, Leon Trotsky (with Star Trek’s creators making direct reference to both Marx and Trotsky—as noted in Chapter 4). On the other hand, there is Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Carl Schmitt, and Leo Strauss. To invoke Star Wars, these latter thinkers represent the “Dark Side” of the “Force.” Or in Hegelian terms, they represent false infinities. Put differently, Star Trek warns that to pursue the philosophical ideation set out by Nietzsche et al. is to engage racism, xenophobia, and ultimately the end of human civilization.