Nicholas Campion, ‘Adventures in Space: Harmony, Sustainability and Environmental Ethics’ in Nicholas Campion and Chris Impey (eds), Imagining Other Worlds: Explorations in Astronomy and Culture (Lampeter: Sophia Centre Press), pp. 69-85. (original) (raw)
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2018
This paper looks at the astronomical context for morality and ethics. It explores the ways in which astronomy has inspired theories of good and evil. It will argue that astronomy often has a moral component and that the stars and planets have often been seen as inclining humanity to either good or evil acts, or can be used in order to infer standards of human behaviour. It will also be argued that by influencing culture, astronomy requires or encourages action. The codification of morality in relation to astronomy can be traced to Pharonic Egypt, was developed in the Hellenistic world and reached a full form in the first-century CE in works such as Claudius Ptolemy"s Tetrabiblos, in which the planets were ascribed personalities. These planetary personalities were embodied in every individual character and could incline people to good or evil depending on the planets" disposition at any one time. The notion of the seven deadly sins-one for each planet can be traced to this system. The idea is, then, that morality is a dynamic system, moving in space and time as the planets move. While an individual may be inclined to do evil at a particular moment or location in space and time, they might equally be disposed to do good. The system was challenged from a number of perspectives. Hermetic and Gnostic cosmology proposed that, because the entire cosmos was evil, the only solution was to escape from it entirely and the Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas critiqued the claim that the planets could directly influence moral choice. The paper will conclude with reference to the impact of modern astronomy on morality: the use of Newtonianism to support theories of natural justice and universal human rights, and the application Einsteinian relativity to the theory of cultural relativism, in which no one culture can claim to be superior to any other.
How shall we live in space? Culture, law and ethics in spacefaring society
Space Policy, 2006
The US civilian space program is focused on planning for a new round of human missions beyond Earth orbit, to realize a 'vision' for exploration articulated by President George W. Bush. It is important to examine this 'vision' in the broader context of the global enterprise of 21st century space exploration. How will extending a human presence into the Solar System affect terrestrial society and culture? What legal, ethical and other value systems should govern human activities in space? This paper will describe the current environment for space policy making and possible frameworks for future space law, ethics and culture. It also proposes establishment of a World Space Conference to aid deliberations on the above. r
Beijing Law Review , 2018
All over the world space applications are considered as vital tools for carrying development in respect of social, economic and environment. The major space faring country grows their economy, science, technology, security through the use of space. Predominantly, events for economic growth through space exploration have considered noteworthy in the international arena. An uninterrupted increase of space activities indicates that space law and policies have become significant for a large number of countries. However, increasing the space faring nations, commercialization by the public, private entities and privation of political willingness of influential countries also denote the new concern to the peaceful use of space, maintaining space safety, security and sustainability. The existing legal protection towards the peaceful and sustainable uses of space is not measured satisfactorily well-organized and competent. Particularly, the issue of commercialization of space is not well agreed. The goal of this paper is to examine the shortcomings of present regimes and legal challenges to the sustainable use of space with identifying that there is an urgent necessity for effective and more comprehensive regime not just at the international level, but also at the national level.
Space, ethics and society. A CMES study
Acta Astronautica, 2001
Ethical issues have for long been limited to the fields of medicine and biotechnology, whereas to-day such matters encompass a growing number of engineering activities. 21st century citizens are more equiring about technoscientific claims and accomplishments. Has their impact on society and the ecological environment been measured and quantified? With all this accumulated knowledge and progress do they have the ability and means to resolve these self-created difficulties? Or will a totally new approach have to be sought? The debates include space activity not only because of the public funding needed but also because of the possible consequences on humans as well as the terrestrial, orbital or outer environment. Since the fall of 1998, CNES has undertaken the study of the role played by space activities in to-day's society and that of the future, seeking to clarify the objectives of the former with the expectations of the latter, and how they converge. The purpose of this study is to determine precisely the ethical responsibility of the space agencies and to pursue more sociological and philosophical research on the ethical scope of space activities.
Astrosociology and Inequality in Global Space Governance
2014
The introduction of the field of astrosociology in 2004 by author Pass focuses on the study of astrosocial phenomena (that is, social, cultural, and behavioral patterns related to outer space). As such, astrosociology exists as a multidisciplinary field to fill a vacuum that covers several space-related subfields from social and behavioral science as well as humanities perspectives, including many issues related to global space governance. For this reason, this paper centres on four specific related areas focusing on the divergent interests and social inequality among nations that involve dominant and subordinate voices in global space policymaking, and the enactment and enforcement of global legal regimes/international law: (1) The impact of cooperation and conflict among nations on global space governance. (2) The participation of developing nations and their prevention from participating. (3) Settling differences between developing and developed nations. (4) The roles of pre-spac...
Our Moral Obligation to Support Space Exploration
Environmental Ethics, 2011
The moral obligation to support space exploration follows from our obligations to protect the environment and to survive as a species. It can be justified through three related arguments: one supporting space exploration as necessary for acquiring resources, and two illustrating the need for space technology in order to combat extraterrestrial threats such as meteorite impacts. Three sorts of objections have been raised against this obligation. The first are objections alleging that supporting space exploration is impractical. The second is the widely held notion that space exploration and environmentalism are at odds with one another. Finally, there are two objections to using space resources that Robert Sparrow has raised on the topic of terraforming. The obligation to support space exploration can be defended in at least three ways: (1) the "argument from resources," that space exploration is useful for amplifying our available resources; (2) the "argument from asteroids," that space exploration is necessary for protecting the environment and its inhabitants from extraterrestrial threats such as meteorite impacts; and (3) the "argument from solar burnout," that we are obligated to pursue interstellar colonization in order to ensure long-term human survival. . Schwartz's main areas of research are modal metaphysics and philosophy of mathematics, though he is also interested in the ethics of space exploration. Schwartz thanks Daniel Blaser, Bruce Russell, Marcus Cooper, and James Schultz for discussion, comments, and support. He would also like to thank two anonymous referees at Environmental Ethics for making suggestions that have improved this paper considerably.
Outer Space in Society, Politics and Law - Space Exploration
Exploration has been a buzzword over centuries, ranging from the early naval endeavours in the 15th century to the space missions of our days. Throughout the centuries, exploration could be best described as the act of searching or travelling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information 2 . It were the early exploration missions that led to the discovery of America, Australia, etc.; it were the inland expeditions that brought back innovations and new products; and it was the act itself that brought with it new knowledge, which transformed human culture to an enlightened one -both in Europe and eventually worldwide. Space exploration is the logical continuation of that very process in a world that leaves no major "white" spots to explore further. It is therefore defined "... as the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space." 3 , a sentence that involves three words, which have to be understood completely to appreciat...
The Ethics of Outer Space: A Consequentialist Perspective
Outer space is of major interest to consequentialist ethics for two basic reasons. First, the vast expanses of outer space offer opportunities for achieving vastly more good or bad consequences than can be achieved on Earth alone. If consequences are valued equally regardless of where they occur then achieving good consequences in space is of paramount importance. For human civilization, this can mean the building of space colonies or even the macroengineering of structures like Dyson swarms. However, as a practical matter for contemporary decision making, there should be less effort towards space colonization and more effort towards preventing civilization-ending catastrophes. Preventing the latter will ensure that future generations of humans will then have the opportunity to colonize space. The second reason why space should be seen as having a major importance for consequentialist ethics is the possibility that humanity may encounter an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization. This possibility poses difficult questions concerning which consequences should be pursued, given that any extraterrestrials who are in a position to make contact with us are also likely to be significantly more advanced than humanity. If they are indeed more advanced, then better consequences might accrue if humanity defers or even commits some form of civilizational suicide in order to make more space for their expansion. This possibility may also lead humans to rethink our own relation to less advanced other species on Earth.