Talk:Philosophy in Battlestar Galactica/Archive 1

Building a philosophy page within battlestarwiki is a daunting task, one that might quickly spin out of control if the subject is not limited to its relationship to BSG.

In my opinion, BSG is so enthralling to fans not so much due to its own content as it is due to the imagination and pondering it promotes in the minds of its fans.

Therefore, the potential for this page to be a great and meaningful contribution to battlestar wiki is great. This is a bold move designed to help those who couldn't afford to squander precious years at some stuffy university reading Plato, Holmes, Mill, Locke, Kant, Derrida, Focault, et al- but recognize some of the thoughts floating around in the chimeric battlestar universe.

Perhaps the best thing about battlestar is that it presents characters that are flawed and evolving constantly. There are few true heroes and villains in battlestar. Hardly anything in battlestar can be consistently labeled because something that applies to the Cylons might change in the next episode as they evolve as a species/culture, make mistakes, try new approaches, and embrace or shed beliefs. The same goes for humans, be they Capricans, Sagitatarians, or Vegetarians.

Guidelines:

1) In writing this page, let us limit things as they apply to BSG- punt things off to wikipedia's philosophy pages in case people want to explore further. We will need to cut off tangents at the border of the BSG universe or things will get out of control.

2) Distinguish between our world and BSG very clearly. We can briefly explain an ethical principle, and then give an example from BSG where it seems to be at play.

3) Make sure that we are attributing things to BSG speculatively, not in any concrete fashion- only the writers of BSG know for sure what was meant, if they meant anything at all. The show seems to be inherently ambiguous in general and this is probably on purpose.

4) The more we can identify scenes, specific episodes, time tracks, give quotes, provide citations, and link things to sources such as Wikpedia (but certainly not limited to this), the more solid this will be. For example, cite an event in BSG such as Chief Tyrell's embracing of certain labor concerns and link it loosely to political philosophy as it may apply- perhaps Marxism.

5) This page is as certain to evolve as cylons and man are certain to evolve. This is God's plan. Embrace it.

I welcome all the help I can get on this page. I am going to need it!

So say we all? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Maximilian333 (talk • contribs).

Welcome, Max. I appreciate the work you've done. Since Battlestar Wiki is intended as an encyclopedia and not for analysis for commentary, there is some rewriting and sourcing that needs to be done for this article to fit on the wiki. I and other contributors may take a stab at doing this, but it is important that you cite external sources that support the comparisons, contrasts, and information on the series that you show. You can use internal links for characters, of course, but it is very important that the article does not sound as if you specifically wrote it as a personal analysis. Hopefully other contributors will look at what's been done and give other comments that may help. There is much philosophy in the show, but it is difficult to quantify objectively. --Spencerian 09:44, 7 March 2007 (CST)

Thanks

Thank you for the vote of confidence. As I am neither a philosopher nor a professional writer, it is not my intent to finalize this article alone. I expect it to be a messy and chaotic process, but the end result should be worth the work. I'll do my best to keep it objective, use qualifiers, and provide citations. Additionally, I will try to sift philosophy-related ideas from religion, politics, and mythology and punt these to appropriate pages.

Again, if anyone has any thoughts about something and can clarify or lend support through citations, please do be so bold as to click "edit" above and go for it.