Synopsis: Captain Yates is discovered to be providing medical supplies to the Maquis, While Commander Eddington absconds with supplies the Federation was going to give to the Cardassians.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of one of Carl (C. G.) Jung’s central theories. That the Eros-driven irrational unconscious has a different way of doing things than the Logos-driven rational conscious ego, but that neither way is better than the other – only different.
In “For the Cause” a senior staff briefing, led by Commander Michael Eddington reports on two issues facing Deep Space Nine. The first is that the Federation is going to provide the Cardassians with 12 replicators to help them better fight off the attacks from the Maquis, the rebel group that has broken off from the Federation and does not want the peace between the Federation and the Cardassians to last. The second bit of information is that the love interest of Captain Benjamin Sisko, Captain Kasidy Yates, is suspected of supplying the Maquis with medical supplies. Unbeknownst to the staff, Eddington is himself a member of the Maquis and he will steal the replicators while Sisko, aboard the Defiant, and much of the senior staff, are chasing after Yates. Sisko and Odo realize that they are on a wild goose chase and return to the station to find that Eddington has taken the replicators. Yates then returns to the station to face Sisko and whatever punishment awaits her.
In this episode both Eddington and Yates are actively trying to deceive Sisko, but their motivations are portrayed in much different ways. Eddington’s actions are seen as being motivated by his belief that peace between the Cardassians and the Federation is wrong; Yates’s actions are explained as her feeling that she is helping ease the pain of sick and wounded. Eddington escapes unscathed; Yates returns to face the consequences of her actions. Is one better than the other, or are they both just doing what they feel is right for the cause they believe in? We, as viewers are led to have sympathy for Yates, because she was on what she considered a mission of mercy and came back to take responsibility for her actions, while we are led to feel that Eddington acted with destructive intent, as he renounced the guiding principles of Starfleet. Is that the only way to see it? Jung wrote: Psychology does not know what good and evil are in themselves; it knows them only as judgments about relationships. ‘Good’ is what seems suitable, acceptable, or valuable from a certain point of view; evil is its opposite” (1951/1968, p. 53 [CW 9ii, para. 97]). As we watch Star Trek it is important to remember that Starfleet’s way is not the only way in the galaxy.
Reference:
Jung, C.G. (1968). Aion: Researches into the phenomenology of the self. In R.F.C. Hull (Trans.), The collected works of C. G. Jung (Vol. 9ii). Princeton University Press. (Original work published in 1951)
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