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Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 35: The Measure Of A Man [VHS]

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This episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" takes on a classic science fiction theme: the rights and dignity of sentient artificial beings. "The Measure of a Man" ranks right up there with the best of such explorations. The combination of an intelligent script and superb acting makes this one that bears repeat watching.

Lieutenant Commander Data, the android bridge officer on the starship "Enterprise," is faced with the unpleasant prospect of being disassembled against his will by an obsessed Starfleet cybernetics expert. Scriptwriter Melinda Snodgrass effectively uses the dramatic device of a legal hearing as the vehicle by which to present a philosophical inquiry into the crucial questions: Is Data "alive"? Does he have inalienable rights? Would forcing him into actions against his will amount to slavery?

The performances are uniformly good. Special mention should be made of Brent Spiner's portrayal of Data: it is a masterfully nuanced performance which engages the viewers' sympathy. And Patrick Stewart, as Data's captain and courtroom defender, delivers his key pieces of oratory with passionate integrity.

As I noted above, this television episode can be read as part of a greater science fiction tradition. But in its exploration of the enduring conflict between individual rights and the forces of exploitation, "The Measure of a Man" is also a worthy successor to the literature of the anti-slavery activists of the 19th century. Watch "The Measure of a Man" and then read an abolitionist classic like "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," or "David Walker's Appeal." With "The Measure of a Man," the "Star Trek" creative team has produced an episode that is full of moral relevance.

This is one of my all-time favorite TNG episodes. In a nutshell: starfleet wants to disect Data for nefarious purposes. Picard convinces old flame to hold hearing to establish Data's personhood. Old flame assigns Riker to represent starfleet. (When Riker tries to refuse, she threatens to declare Data a toaster.) Hearing ensues... I was impressed when I saw this first-run and I'm STILL impressed. "Measure of a Man" asks the question: "What defines sentience?" But it also asks the more profound question: "What defines humanity?" The hearing is both touching and thought-provoking. I found myself wondering if *I'd* be declared sentient under the same circumstances. Spiner's performance gives Data a gentle dignity and compassion that just shines. Too many great lines to list. Stand-out scene when Riker removes Data's arm at the hearing and says: "I'm sorry." A must-have for all TNG fans.

Commander Data is to be 'retrieved' by famed Starfleet scientist Commander Bruce Maddux for ... disassembly?

This exceptional morality play about the nature of existence has wonderful depth for being a mere forty-plus minutes. In record time, it manages to deal with such titillating sci-fi subjects as the man vs. machine controversy, a person's right to choose, and even slavery.

Brent Spiner, as Commander Data, is at top form in this episode, given perhaps the greatest story possible: a story tinkering with a hidden sense of euthanasia and his right, as a manufactured being, to make the choices that determine his fate. Picard Stewart, as his captain and defense attorney in court, gives an incredibly stirring speech about the nature of epistemology.

Another must-see ... but not just for Trek fans.

This episode answers the question, "What makes a Man?" better than the long-awaited and, I thought, disappointing movie "Artificial Intelligence." All (of us) English teachers know that love of poetry is a major factor in measuring humanity. I gave this an A+.

As the Enterprise docks with a newly commissioned Star Base, Commander Bruce Maddox (Brian Brophy) announces that in his persuit of cybernetics research, he has decided that Lt. Commander Data is a mere machine, not sentient, and he intends to disassemble him so he can one day make many more like him.

Devoid of true emotions, Data is actually intrigued by Maddox's work, yet believes it is flawed and does not wish to risk his life for Maddox's research. When he is given orders by Starfleet to participate in the dangerous experiments, he resigns his commission, only to have his ace trumped by Maddox again, who claims Data is no different than a talking tea kettle, and somehow has become property of Starfleet.

Picard asks the Judge Advocate General, Phillipa Louvoi (Amanda McBroom) to call a hearing to save Data from Maddox's Frankenstein-esque wiles. The understaffed, newly open star base has no qualified prosecuters, so the J.A.G. drafts Commander Riker the dubious "honor" of representing Maddox's cause in the hearing, letting Picard be defense council. When Riker refuses, he is told that if he does not participate in this capacity, the J.A.G. will rule in favor of Maddox, giving Riker no choice but to diligently fight for Maddox's cause in the hope that he will lose.

As a viewer of the show, it's easy to buy into the fact that Data is not merely a machine, but a person... but if this was science fact and not science fiction, would we feel the same way? That a machine built with circuits should be afforded the same rights as a human being? Probably not, but who knows?

Riker and Picard pull out all stops in representing their respective sides, each doing an admirable job. Data must also defend himself, which he does pragmatically - expressing his desire to retain his right to choose and to his very life. This issue comes up again later in episode 64, in which Data constructs a child, his daughter, Lal, who Starfleet eyes greedily.

A great episode.

I'm always a little disappointed when I watch this episode. It's sound in concept but uneven in execution.
Riker and Picard go head-to-head before a judge who must rule whether Data is a sentient being or not. Data is an android, so what should happen when he turns out to have wishes that conflict with those of his superior officers at Starfleet Command? Does he have the right to refuse to participate in a risky experiment, or not? Is he person like those around him, or a tool for their use?

It seems hard to believe that the practice of justice, in particular the adversarial process and arbitrary rulings by judges, has not changed at all in four hundred years. More than that, Riker's courtroom arguments really are nothing more than a sideshow display, making Picard's despondency about his own case very difficult to understand. The judge's final verdict draws on almost nothing of the arguments presented before her, which undercuts the point of Riker and Picard making their presentations at all. However, these problems are balanced to some degree by fine performances from all the actors, and some excellent interplay between Picard and Judge Louvois.
On a final note: it would have been good if the writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation had demonstrated some social change/progress from the twentieth century to the twenty-fourth, rather than just having the characters proudly claim that it has occurred. This was an episode crying out for such a context.

I was interested in watching this after watching the classic The Outer Limits episode, "I Robot" (episode 41), staring Leonard Nimoy where the same question was explored... also in a court room.

A lot of philosophy is explored in this episode. But the acting is magnificent with the exception of Judge Advocate General Philipa Louvois who gave some poorly delivered and cheesy lines. Plus for a JAG officer, she sure seems to be shocked by statements made in court more than you would think or believe. But Jonathan Frakes, I believe, gives the best performance as he is given the unbearable task of actually prosecuting Data. You could really feel his pain in performing the task he did not want to do. This also has one of the better poker bits this show ever produced as Data plays poker for the first time.

Like "I Robot," this makes you think. While I developed my own ideas of who I thought was right and wrong and in between, this episode leaves enough open for you to explore your own ideas. Which, I believe, is one of the strengths of this episode.

There is no question that as technology continues to advance and humans move out beyond our solar locality, some of the truths that we currently hold self-evident will be severely questioned or proven false. Science fiction in general and the many incarnations of Star Trek are areas where many of those truths are questioned. In episode three (The Naked Now) of Star Trek, The Next Generation, the android Data has a sexual encounter with the human Tasha Yar. I have always considered that episode weaker than it could have been because there was no consideration of the social, legal and moralistic ramifications of a human having sexual intercourse with a machine. That event is used in this episode, where Data is on trial for his very existence.
Commander Bruce Maddox is an expert in cybernetics who is trying to understand how Data functions. He has reached the point in his research where the only way he can advance is to study Data by disassembling him. However, when his plan is explained to Data, Picard and Riker, they are skeptical. They do not believe that the experiment can be carried out without significant risk to Data's persona, so they resist. To counter this, Maddox has orders transferring Data to his command. Data then resigns his commission in Star Fleet, and Maddox responds by stating that Data is no different from the Enterprise computer. He is the property of Star Fleet, to be used, as the leadership considers appropriate. Captain Picard challenges the ruling, and the local Judge Advocate General (JAG) convenes a hearing.
The JAG is Phillipa Louvois, a woman who was previously involved with Captain Picard. It is an intense love-hate relationship. Although it is never explained, they were clearly romantically involved years before, but that relationship changed as she prosecuted Picard when he faced a court martial after the Stargazer was lost. Picard takes the assignment of arguing in favor of Data being considered a sentient being and Commander Riker is ordered to argue that Data is little more than a toaster. At first he refuses, but when told that if he doesn't, the ruling will be immediately rendered that Data is a machine, he agrees. He is also told that he must aggressively argue the position, if the JAG believes that he is not, the immediate ruling will be that Data is a machine.
In the hearing, Riker goes first and his arguments are forceful, so powerful that the only response that Picard can make is to request a recess. After talking with Guinan, Picard argues that the facts that Data is a machine and was constructed by humans are conceded but irrelevant. Humans are also machines, albeit of a different sort and humans are made by their parents, when they engage in acts that combine their DNAs.
Picard then moves to the real issues, questioning Data about the mementos that he has collected. His tryst with Tasha is brought up, which raises the eyebrows of the JAG. Maddox is then placed on the stand and Picard asks for his definition of a being that should be accorded rights. He gives three criteria, intelligence, self-awareness and consciousness. There is no dispute that Data is intelligent and Picard easily proves that Data is self-aware. The final point is forcefully made when Picard asks Maddox to prove that he (Picard) is sentient. His response is to say that it is self evident that Picard is sentient. Picard then uses this to argue that there is no test to prove sentience. Therefore, absent a proof to the contrary, Picard argues that the possibility that Data is sentient is enough to justify that he has the rights accorded to humans. Given this uncertainty, the JAG rules that Data will be accorded the rights granted to sentient creatures.
These arguments go to the very core of human beliefs concerning the fundamentals of mind, ego, personality and the other components of the essence of being. They are handled so well that two of my colleagues in the Philosophy department at Mount Mercy College use this tape in their classes. At this time, the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has yet to produce anything that can be considered intelligent. Therefore, the debate there is still about whether AI is even possible. Given the abilities for data storage and the speed of processing that Data says he is capable of, if computing technology ever reaches that point, then the hearing depicted in this episode will eventually take place.
This is one of the best episodes in all of Star Trek, as I have said many times, the best episodes are those that challenge our ideas about the legal, moral, and ethical structure of the universe. We consider many of our beliefs to be self-evident, however there are a large number of reasons to believe that many of those beliefs are based on species-centric delusions.

The nature of what it is to be alive is a question which many humans, to their detriment, take for granted in the twenty-first century. The truth is that history shows that red blood does not always make "human" in the eyes of those who hold the control levers on the machine of power. Every race that has ever known slavery has known what it is to be what the Nazis called "untermaenschlich," subhuman.
The question in this episode does not concern Data's humanity directly, but the more fundamental question of whether or not he truly does live. In summary, Maddox lists the qualifications for sentience as possessing self-consciousness or self-awareness, the ability to addapt to change, and the ability to seek out knowledge or actively learn. The quintessential moment of the episode occurs when Picard forces the commander to agree that his subject, Data, does in fact meet all of his own, Maddox's, stated criteria for sentience.
Realization and compensation for human ignorance is not a phenomenon which stops in the twenty-fourth century either. Consider the Judge Advocate General's ruling and the catharsis it envokes. The observer empathizes with her pain and regret brought about by her all-too-human arrogance.
In the end, there are simply some principles which cannot be sacrificed for science. And as human experimentation is decried by many, so too does Data make his own feelings abundently clear. It is Data who may represent the views of this fan when he says: "Commander, I formally refuse to participate in your experiment. Do not worry sir, when you are ready, I will still be here."

In this one Starfleet wants to study Data and declare him as property! Starfleet wants to build an army of Datas so humans won't have to endure the dangers of space travel. Amanda McBroom plays the JAG officer that wants to put Data into the hands of Starfleet. Riker argues that Data is nothing but a machine. He presents an argument that eventually does help him. Picard portrays Data's advocate. Both convince the JAG officer (Judge Advocate General) that Data is a sentient being and has the right to pursue his own life. We all know Data gets to resume his career; however it does make another second season standout episode.