Introduction: The History and Philosophy of Astrobiology

Dunér, David

doi:10.1089/ast.2012.9030

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…International meetings have been recently organized to address the relationship between astrobiology and topics such as history, philosophy, sociology, ethics, and religion (Dominik and Zarnecki, 2011; Dunér, 2012; Rospars et al , 2013). Within peer-reviewed scientific literature, recent reviews on these topics include a special edition of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical & Engineering Sciences (2011, Vol.…”

Section: Chapter 8 What Relevance Does Astrobiology Have To the Futumentioning

confidence: 99%

The Astrobiology Primer v2.0

Wright²,

et al. 2016

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Section: Chapter 8 What Relevance Does Astrobiology Have To the Futumentioning

confidence: 99%

The Astrobiology Primer v2.0

Wright²,

et al. 2016

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“…What happens if the planet in question has no life but had it in the past, will it have less astrobioethic value? (Dunér et al, 2013). This last question can be answered by saying that the astrobiological value of the environment in question does not diminish, because we can explore its past to understand the nature of life outside the Earth.…”

Section: Topics Of Discussion Within the Moral Aspect Of Astrobioethicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disciplinary nature of astrobiology and astrobioethic’s epistemic foundations

Chon-Torres

2018

International Journal of Astrobiology

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Astrobioethics is an emerging discipline that studies, evaluates and analyses the moral, legal and social issues of the search for life in the Universe. As a new field of study, it requires an epistemological foundation to be able to be recognized as an academic discipline. In order to achieve this, it is important to understand the disciplinary nature of astrobiology as a transdisciplinary form of research, above the multi and interdisciplinary levels, although this does not necessarily mean discarding them. In addition, the questions and topics of each subdivision of astrobioethics studies are specified and explained in this paper.Astrobiology is a science responsible for studying the possibility of life on other places than on the Earth, for example, on planets in our own Solar System or most importantly, given their numbers, on exoplanets. However, this definition is quite general and does not allow us to directly understand its disciplinary nature. In fact, it can be said that some of the controversies and debates about astrobiology as a legitimate science may come from the epistemological ignorance about it. It is for this reason that astrobiology should not be understood from a traditionally monodisciplinary approach, but, instead, requires a different way of perceiving and approaching science. 2 How come astrobioethics appears in the disciplinary scenario? For it we need to consider the theoretical framework of geoethics first. Within the International Association for Geoethics, we read: 'studies on planetary geology (sensu lato) and astrobiology also require a geoethical approach' (International Association for Geoethics, 2016). In addition, in the same organization, they point out that geoethics faces new ethical dilemmas that should be addressed by astrobiology, so astrobioethics emerges as a need to be able to face these new scenarios. As any new scenario, it requires the organization and categorization of the objects of study and define the way to address them.It is fundamental to understand, hence, that science is part of the society, thus, part of the culture and therefore subject to modifications over time. Knowledge changes and is transformed over time because people do change too. In other words, science, being a cultural product, will be subject to the needs of humankind. The concepts of science change over time, according to the mentality of a given generation that hosts it. The concepts of science that Newton perceived are not the same that the ones we perceive in the present days. Therefore, in order to understand astrobiology and its derived problems in an epistemologically valid dimension, it is essential to recognize it with eyes that go well beyond the classical scientific specializations. The disciplinary nature of astrobiologyHere it is essential to distinguish three concepts: multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity. Multidisciplinarity refers to the ability of the disciplines, acting as organized units of knowledge, to interact with each other in order to ad...

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“…is therefore helping to re-unify the sciences after a long period of intense specialization. Moreover, by considering questions related to the philosophical and cultural implications of the discovery (or nondiscovery) of extraterrestrial life, astrobiology is also stimulating intellectual activity outside the normal scope of the physical sciences, including theoretical work in anthropology, ethics, linguistics, philosophy, and theology (e.g., Bertka, 2009;Dick & Lupisella, 2009;Race et al, 2012;Dunér et al, 2013;Impey et al, 2013;Vakoch, 2013Vakoch, , 2014Dick, 2018). To this extent, astrobiology is well-placed, if only partially, to help heal the rift between science and the humanities identified sixty years ago by C.P.…”

Section: Intellectual Benefits Of Big History and Astrobiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Widening Perspectives: The Intellectual and Social Benefits of Astrobiology, Big History, and the Exploration of Space

Crawford

2019

JBH

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Astrobiology is the field of science devoted to searching for life elsewhere in the Universe. It is inherently interdisciplinary, integrating results from multiple fields of science, and in this respect has strong synergies with 'big history'. I argue that big history and astrobiology are both acting to widen human perspectives in intellectually and socially beneficial directions, especially by enhancing public awareness of cosmic and evolutionary worldviews. I will further argue that these perspectives have important implications for the social and political organisation of humanity, including the eventual political unification of our planet. Astrobiology and big history are also concerned with the future of humanity, and I will argue that this future will be culturally and intellectually enriched if it includes the exploration of the universe around us.

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Introduction: The History and Philosophy of Astrobiology

Cited by 13 publications

References 11 publications

The Astrobiology Primer v2.0

The Astrobiology Primer v2.0

Disciplinary nature of astrobiology and astrobioethic’s epistemic foundations

Widening Perspectives: The Intellectual and Social Benefits of Astrobiology, Big History, and the Exploration of Space

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