Xenophilosophy, aliens and the knowledge of ourselves (original) (raw)
Related papers
2013
In this article we reflect on the motives underlying the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life (SETI) with a view to show that far from turning away from Humanity it is profoundly rooted in human aspirations. We suggest that those motives derive their driving force from the fact that they combine two powerful aspirations of Humanity. On the one hand, there is the transcendental motive that drives history of science, the human enterprise that claims to escape any communitarian closure of horizon and brings our humanity to transcend itself toward the other, which was formerly referred to under the title Universal Reason. On the other hand, there is the anthropological motive by virtue of which the human being tends to project on the other and even in inanimate nature a double of himself. The mixture of both motives is deemed responsible for a remarkable bias in the current understanding of the SETI program. Despite the fact that such a program might well be aimed at any biological formation which could be arbitrarily different from all known forms, it is focused instead on a very special kind of being: beings that possess both the natural property of the type of mentality we identify with: intelligence, and the ideal one of being possible co-subjects for a Science of Nature. 1. Mixed motives for a scientific program One may have legitimate grounds for puzzlement about SETI. SETI is the acronym of a research program to detect optical or radio signals as a communication with intelligent beings inhabiting the planets of stars other than our Sun. That research has been unsuccessful to date despite the progress already made in two areas. On one hand, progress has been made in the astronomical identification of exoplanets located in the habitable zone of their stars. The observatory satellite Kepler dedicated to the hunt for exoplanets has allowed identification of over a thousand candidates for the status of telluric exoplanets awaiting confirmation from telescopic observation on Earth. On the other hand, progress has been made in the detection of trace physicochemical components of life in space (biosignatures). The analysis of the light spectrum of exoplanets orbiting their star (so far only uninhabitable planets more like a hot gaseous Jupiter than like Earth) has made possible the determination of the chemical composition of the atmosphere of a few of those exoplanets, revealing the
Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Academic and Societal Implications (edited volume)
DISCOUNT CODE: PROMO25 (for purchase of hard copy book at Cambridge Scholars Publishing website; https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-7727-5) EBOOK: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Jensine\_Andresen\_Extraterrestrial\_Intelligence?id=SXVjEAAAQBAJ DESCRIPTION OF BOOK: https://www.cambridgescholars.com/uploads/sbpub\_sub/resources/Extraterrestrial-Intelligence-Academic-and-Societal-Implications.pdf What are the implications for human society, and for our institutions of higher learning, of the discovery of a sophisticated extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) operating on and around Earth? This book explores this timely question from a multidisciplinary perspective. It considers scientific, philosophical, theological, and interdisciplinary ways of thinking about the question, and it represents all viewpoints on how likely it is that an ETI is already operating here on Earth. The book’s contributors represent a wide range of academic disciplines in their formal training and later vocations, and, upon reflection on the book’s topic, they articulate a diverse range of insights into how ETI will impact humankind. It is safe to say that any contact or communication with ETI will not merely be a game changer for human society, but will also be a paradigm changer. This means that it makes sense for human beings to prepare themselves now for this important transition.
On the plurality of inhabited worlds: a brief history of extraterrestrialism
International Journal of Astrobiology, 2006
This paper delineates the cultural evolution of the ancient idea of a plurality of inhabited worlds, and traces its development through to contemporary extraterrestrialism, with its foundation in the physical determinism of cosmology, and its attendant myths of alien contact drawn from examples of British film and fiction. We shall see that, in the evolving debate of the existence of extraterrestrial life and intelligence, science and science fiction have benefited from an increasingly symbiotic relationship. Modern extraterrestrialism has influenced both the scientific searches for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), and become one of the most pervasive cultural myths of the 20th century. Not only has pluralism found a voice in fiction through the alien, but fiction has also inspired science to broach questions in the real world.
A History of the Extraterrestrial Life Debate
Zygon®, 1997
From antiquity to the present, humans have debated whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe. This presentation will survey this debate, examining the roles played in it by science, religion, philosophy, and other areas of human learning. One thesis that will be developed is that whether or not extraterrestrials exist, ideas about them have strongly influenced Western thought.
The meaning and challenge of the quest for extraterrestrials
2013
Today, human beings are venturing into deep space. As questioning beings who continuously seek to transcend ourselves, and as the scientific quest for extraterrestrials continues, we are prompted to philosophise about extraterrestrials in the event of detection. The search for extraterrestrials is also a search for ourselves. What is it to be human? This question is highlighted in arguments for and against this quest and in the discussion about communication with extraterrestrials. Constraints and convergence in our evolutionary context and a galaxy with so many similarities make a too different alien science unlikely. Aliens cannot be too alien. Strict protocols are in place before sightings can be confirmed. Some results seem very promising, others not. The detection of cosmic companions in our galaxy will bring humans together like never before.
The Search For Extraterrestrial Life: Epistemology, Ethics, and Worldviews
2009
"The search for and discovery of extraterrestrial life, especially an independent origin of life, raise interesting philosophical issues (most or all of which can be connected to important practical issues), in at least three interrelated areas: (1) epistemology, (2) value theory (especially ethics), and (3) worldviews. This chapter samples of a variety of views in these areas, touching slightly on some policy and theological connections, both of which are covered more extensively elsewhere in this volume. The first section will explore epistemological areas such as (a) dealing with the limitation of knowing only one kind of biology, (b) challenges of discerning an independent origin of life, and (c) challenges for assessing the biological status of a region or entire planet. The ethical considerations of the second section will explore (a) the role of an independent origin of life vs. interplanetary transport, (b) ethical views ranging from anthropocentric to cosmological, and (c) potential policy implications. The third section will touch briefly on basic worldviews that revolve around (a) randomness and chance (an “accidental” universe), (b) purpose and meaning (a deliberate universe), and (c) a “bootstrapped” universe in which meaning and purpose emerge in the universe through valuing cultural beings (a “cultural cosmos”)."
On the Plausibility of Intelligent Life on Other Worlds
Environmental Humanities
The apprehension of the last three factors of the Drake equation, f i • f c • L, is misguided or at least not very well examined. This article scrutinizes the underlying suppositions involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) research. What is meant by "intelligence," "technology," and "civilization"? What makes them possible, and how do they evolve? The present examination aims to arrive at a more well-founded search for extraterrestrial intelligence that takes into account current research within cognitive science, the history of technology, and the history of socialization. What we need is a cognitivesemiotic approach to the extent, distribution, and evolution of extraterrestrial intelligence. The three variables f i • f c • L concern how an extraterrestrial biosphere evolves cognitively flexible organisms that, through a biocultural coevolution, acquire an increasing capability to manipulate the surrounding environment for the purpose of transferring shared mental states. In addition, this has to last for a period of time long enough to coincide with the relatively brief existence of Homo sapiens sapiens.
Karl Rahner and the Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Question
The Heythrop Journal, 2006
The prospect of extra-terrestrial intelligence has become a central topic of scientific investigation and popular speculation. This has generated questions of ethical and theological significance that now receive growing coverage. Throughout his writings, Karl Rahner remained open to the prospect that the process of cosmic evolution had yielded sentient life form in other galaxies. He argued against any theological veto on this notion, while also distinguishing the existential significance of such life forms from that of angels. Furthermore, the possibility of multiple incarnations is raised though not affirmed. With its christological intensity, his theology seems to militate against any repetition of the incarnation. This essay examines some of the arguments for and against the possibility of multiple incarnations, before assessing the current state of the extra-terrestrial intelligence debate. In the light of inconclusive scientific findings, the cautionary position of Rahner is reaffirmed .
Anthropological Contributions to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
2009
Three recent annual conferences of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) have included symposia on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). This paper reviews these symposia, which dealt with themes associated with the overarching AAA conference themes for each year: in 2004, the SETI session addressed Anthropology, Archaeology, and Interstellar Communication: Science and the Knowledge of Distant Worlds; in 2005, it dealt with Historical Perspectives on Anthropology and SETI; and in 2006, the session examined Culture, Anthropology, and SETI. Among the topics considered in these symposia were analogues for contact with extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), examining anthropologists' experience in the field encountering other cultures-past and present. Similarly, the methodologies of archaeologists provide analogies for making contact with temporally distant civilizations, based on reconstructions from fragmentary information. Case studies helped make such analogies concrete in the symposia. The challenges of comprehending intelligences with different mental worlds was explored through a study of the meetings of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, for example, while the decryption of Mayan hieroglyphics provided lessons on understanding others of own species.
The search for extra-terrestrial life
2005
Desde o início, as ideias acerca da vida extra-terrestre continham significados metafisicos e religiosos. Estudos históricos, como os de Steven Dick e Michael Crowe, mostraram que as referências ao extra-terrestre ajudavam a tornar a astronomia mais atractiva, sendo discutidos exaustivamente. A confiança na existência de vida inteligente algures no universo não é uma descoberta recente, pois em meados do século XIX o filósofo escocês Thomas Dick calculou a população total do nosso sistema solar. Assim, em função das implicações metafisicas e teológicas da vida extra-terrestre, que têm influenciado o conteúdo das teorias astronómicas, podemos perguntar-nos se existe alguma coisa nova a ser dita à luz das nossas actuais especulações.