Date of Award
2016
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Political Science
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive definition of the Prime Directive, a concept that was developed in Star Trek: The Original Series, as well as provide a non-fictionalized version of the edict.
The Prime Directive is an edict that governs Starfleet not to interfere with a society’s development.
The first main section will discuss in further detail why The Original Series account of the Prime Directive was selected. Furthermore, it will discuss how members of academia interpret the Prime Directive.
The second main section will be an episode-by-episode analysis of each Prime Directive centered episode to extract the different nuances each episode added to the order. Lastly, this thesis will provide a comprehensive definition of the Prime Directive, determine if The Original Series provides an adequate foundation to base a non-fictionalized Prime Directive on, and then propose an operational one that can be used.
Recommended Citation
Steele, Andrew, "Interfering in a Non-Interference Policy: Defining Star Trek's Prime Directive" (2016). Master's Theses. 3273.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/3273
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2016 Andrew Steele
