Star Trek: The Next Generation illustrates 24th century machines as having software with immense capabilities and an astonishing aptitude for understanding. One of these machines is the android Data, who serves as lieutenant commander on the Enterprise-D. Data demonstrates an extraordinary ability to contain knowledge, evolve programs as needed, and analyze the experiences in which he is involved. Referring to Data as a thing becomes a major issue aboard the Enterprise-D. According to Commander Bruce Maddox, associate chair of robotics at the Daystrom Institute, Data is just such a thing; a machine incapable of thinking which is therefore only property. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the Enterprise-D, claims that Data is more than just a machine, he should be considered a he; an equal to man who has the right to free will. The matter is brought to the station's judge advocate general to make a decision on the classification of the data. A hearing takes place that explores the more philosophical question of whether Data is actually capable of thinking, as humans do, or is just a machine with no original thought. It is worth exploring this further, because if Data can be considered equal to man, the question becomes: is it possible that an extraordinary machine like Data really exists? Through the exploration of this philosophical question, it will be argued that the possibility of thinking machines cannot be dismissed nor should it be deprived of the right to free will. The exploration of Data's ability to be a thinking machine begins with a definition of the mind, as this is the entity most often accepted as producing thought. This, in itself, is a philosophical question that raises opposing… middle of the paper… important aspects of thought, no doubt, as to how we can condemn them to be exclusively property rather than allow them to have free will? As argued by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, if a large quantity of machines like Data were produced, then the problem of ownership or free will would extend to what could be an entire race. Condemning the possibilities of machines today could have drastic effects on the future. As for the future, artificial intelligence should not automatically be discredited due to the internal mechanics of the machine. Only when humanity is able to indisputably determine another human being's ability to think can such verdicts concluding property or free will be made about machines. Works Cited Ryle, Gilbert. “The myth of Descartes”. Introduction to philosophy. Eds. John Perry. Michael Bratmann. John Martin Fisher. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. 251-258.