Astrobiology: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy

Cover\nHalf-Title Page\nSeries Page\nTitle Page\nCopyright Page\nContents\nForeword\nPreface\n1 Astrobioethics: Epistemological, Astrotheological, and Interplanetary Issues\n	1.1 Introduction\n	1.2 Epistemological Issue\n	1.3 Astrotheological Issue\n	1.4 Interplanetary Issue\n	1.5 Conclusions\n	References\n2 Astroethics for Earthlings: Our Responsibility to the Galactic Commons\n	2.1 Introduction\n	2.2 Laying the Foundation for an Astroethics of Responsibility\n		2.2.1 First Foundational Question: Who Are We?\n		2.2.2 Second Foundational Question: What Do We Value?\n			2.2.2.1 Science and Value\n			2.2.2.2 Religious Reliance on the Common Good\n			2.2.2.3 A Secular Grounding for Astroethics?\n		2.2.3 Third Foundational Question: What Should We Do?\n			2.2.3.1 From Quandary to Responsibility\n			2.2.3.2 From Space Sanctuary to Galactic Commons\n	2.3 Astroethical Quandaries Arising Within the Solar Neighborhood\n		2.3.1 Does Planetary Protection Apply Equally to Both Earth and Off-Earth Locations?\n		2.3.2 Does Off-Earth Life Have Intrinsic Value?\n		2.3.3 Should Astroethicists Adopt the Precautionary Principle?\n		2.3.4 Who’s Responsible for Space Debris?\n		2.3.5 How Should We Govern Satellite Surveillance?\n		2.3.6 Should We Weaponize Space?\n		2.3.7 Which Should Have Priority: Scientific Research or Making a Profit?\n		2.3.8 Should We Earthlings Terraform Mars?\n		2.3.9 Should We Establish Human Settlements on Mars?\n		2.3.10 How Do We Protect Earth from the Sky?\n	2.4 Levels of Intelligence in the Milky Way Metropolis\n		2.4.1 What is Our Responsibility Toward Intellectually Inferior ETI?\n		2.4.2 What is Our Responsibility Toward Peer ETI?\n		2.4.3 What is Our Responsibility Toward Superior ETI or Even Post-Biological Intelligence?\n	2.5 Conclusion\n	References\n3 Moral Philosophy for a Second Genesis\n	3.1 Moral Philosophy on Earth and Elsewhere\n		3.1.1 The Origin of Ethics and Its Universal Relevance\n		3.1.2 Why Should We Act Morally?\n		3.1.3 Is a New Morality Needed for Astrobiological Explorations?\n	3.2 Identifying the Lack of Ethical Substance in Science Communication\n		3.2.1 Understanding the Boundaries of Knowledge\n		3.2.2 Implications of the Limits and Horizons of Science\n	3.3 Going from Astrobiology to Astrobioethics: A Big Step for Science and Humanism\n		3.3.1 The Pathway from Ethics to Bioethics and to Astrobioethics\n		3.3.2 The Question of the Role of Ethics in Astrobiology\n	3.4 Would There Be New Ethical Principles if There Were a Second Genesis?\n		3.4.1 Inevitability of the Emergence of a Particular Biosignature\n		3.4.2 Universalizable Ethical Criteria\n	3.5 Astrobioethics is Subject to Constraints on Chance\n		3.5.1 Not All Genes Are Equally Significant Targets for Evolution\n		3.5.2 Evolutionary Changes Are Constrained\n	3.6 How Are We Going to Treat Non-Human Life Away from the Earth?\n		3.6.1 Can Ethical Behavior Be Extended into a Cosmic Context\n		3.6.2 Instrumentation for the Search of Life\n	3.7 Ethical Principles in Early Proposals for the Search for Non-Human Life in the Solar System\n		3.7.1 Ethical Considerations in Previous Research in the Solar System\n		3.7.2 Instrumentation That Might Harm Exo-Microorganisms\n	3.8 Conclusion\n	Glossary\n	References\n4 Who Goes There? When Astrobiology Challenges Humans\n	4.1 Introduction\n	4.2 The Copernican Revolution\n	4.3 Religious Reactions to the Copernican Revolution\n	4.4 Astrobiology and Speculation\n	4.5 Heretics\n	4.6 The Many Worlds Hypothesis\n	4.7 Desecration of Planets Beyond Earth\n	4.8 The Precautionary Principle\n	4.9 The Sacred Beyond Earth\n	4.10 Who Goes There?\n	4.11 Conclusion: The Astrobiological Apocalypse\n	Further Readings\n5 Social and Ethical Currents in Astrobiological Debates\n	5.1 Introductory Musings\n	5.2 Uncertainty Opens the Door\n	5.3 Time Frames\n	5.4 Conceptual Frames\n		5.4.1 Error Avoiders vs. Optimizers\n		5.4.2 Ecologicals vs. Anthropocentrists\n		5.4.3 Communalists vs. Commercialists\n	5.5 Complications, Connections, and CYA\n	5.6 A Concluding Thought\n	References\n6 The Ethics of Biocontamination\n	6.1 The Beresheet Tardigrades\n	6.2 Our Conflicting Intuitions\n	6.3 The Intelligibility of Microbial Value\n	6.4 Contamination and Discovery\n	6.5 Conclusion\n	References\n7 Astrobiology Education: InspiringDiverse Audiences with the Search for Life in the Universe\n	7.1 The State of Astrobiology\n	7.2 Astrobiology as a Profession\n	7.3 Graduate Programs\n	7.4 Undergraduate Programs\n	7.5 Conferences and Schools\n	7.6 Courses for Non-Science Majors\n	7.7 Massive Open Online Classes\n	7.8 Teaching Materials and Books\n	References\n8 Genetics, Ethics, and Mars Colonization: A Special Case of Gene Editing and Population Forces in Space Settlement\n	8.1 Introduction\n		8.1.1 The Complex Relationship Between Population Forces and Ethics\n		8.1.2 Humans Evolving on Earth and Mars\n		8.1.3 Bioenhancements: Science, Technology, and Ethics\n		8.1.4 A Set of Astrobioethical Guidelines for Off-World Exploration\n	8.2 Population Forces and the Ethical Issues They Raise\n		8.2.1 Natural Selection and Genetic Drift on Mars\n		8.2.2 Contrasting and Convergent Population Forces on Earth and Mars\n		8.2.3 Population Forces When Humans Colonize Mars, the Asteroids, and Outer Planets\n	8.3 Ethical Issues Implied by Population Forces and Genome Modification\n		8.3.1 Selection of Interplanetary Migrants Based on Invasive Genetic Procedures\n		8.3.2 Required Pre-Settlement Genetic Remediation\n		8.3.3 Moral Context for Genetic Engineering for Space\n	8.4 Case Types for Off-World Population Change and Their Ethical Implications\n		8.4.1 The Case of the Isolated Space Colony\n		8.4.2 The Case of an Inclusivist or Exclusivist Space Colony: Science, Research, Intelligence\n		8.4.3 The Case of the Space Refuge as an Ethically Expensive Option\n		8.4.4 The Case of the Formation of a New Species of Human\n	8.5 Religious Ethics and Population Forces\n	8.6 Conclusions\n	Acknowledgement\n	References\n9 Constructing a Space Ethics Upon Natural Law Ethics\n	9.1 Introduction\n	9.2 Space Ethics and Natural Law Ethics\n	9.3 A Natural Law Ethics Including Space\n	9.4 The Disadvantages, Ambiguities, and Advantages of a Natural Law Space Ethics\n	9.5 Conclusion\n	References\n10 Two Elephants in the Room of Astrobiology\n	Abbreviations\n	10.1 Identifying the Two Elephants\n	10.2 The Phenomenon Elephant\n	10.3 The Weaponization Elephant\n	10.4 U.S. Government Spending on Weapons for Space\n	10.5 The Military-Industrial Complex Operates Under Euphemisms Citing “GovernmentIndustry” Linkages\n	10.6 How the Two Elephants Are Connected\n	10.7 The Astroethics Public Policy Path Forward\n	References\n11 Microbial Life, Ethics and the Exploration of Space Revisited\n	11.1 Introduction\n	11.2 Critiques of Intrinsic Value\n		11.2.1 The Argument from Existing Destruction\n		11.2.2 The Argument from Sheer Numbers\n		11.2.3 The Argument from Impracticality\n		11.2.4 The Argument from Prevailing View\n		11.2.5 The Argument from Respect\n	11.3 What of Intrinsic Value?\n	11.4 Adjudicating Other Interests\n	11.5 Do We Need a Cosmocentric Ethic for Microbial-Type Life?\n	11.6 Conclusions\n	References\n12 Astrobiology, the United Nations, and Geopolitics\n	12.1 Introduction\n	12.2 What is Astrobiology?\n	12.3 Ethical Issues in Astrobiology\n	12.4 Astrobiology and Planetary Protection\n	12.5 Conflicting Ideologies\n	12.6 International Cooperation—or Not?\n	12.7 Conclusions\n	References\n13 An Ethical Assessment of SETI, METI, and the Value of Our Planetary Home\n	13.1 A Brief History of SETI and METI\n	13.2 Ethical Analyses of SETI and METI\n	13.3 Ethical Proposals for the Road Ahead\n	References\n14 The Axiological Dimension of Planetary Protection\n	14.1 Introduction\n	14.2 The Relation Between the Epistemic and the Axiological Dimensions of Planetary Protection\n	14.3 The Axiological Dimension of Planetary Protection Today\n	14.4 The Nature of Epistemic Values\n	14.5 The Outer Space Treaty and the Axiological Dimension of Planetary Protection\n	14.6 The Axiological Dimension of Planetary Protection – Historical Background\n	14.7 Ethics and Planetary Protection\n	14.8 Competing Values – Planetary Protection and the Commercial Use of Space\n	14.9 Conclusions\n	References\n15 Who Speaks for Humanity? The Need for a Single Political Voice\n	15.1 Introduction\n	15.2 The Need for Global Decision-Making in an Astrobiological Context\n	15.3 Some Socio-Political Implications of Astrobiological Perspectives\n	15.4 Who Speaks for Humanity? Building Appropriate Political Institutions for Space Activities\n		15.4.1 A World Space Agency\n		15.4.2 Strengthening the United Nations for the Governance of Space Activities\n		15.4.3 Space Activities in the Context of a Future World Government\n	15.5 Conclusions\n	References\n16 Interstellar Ethics and the Goldilocks Evolutionary Sequence: Can We Expect ETI to Be Moral?\n	16.1 Introduction\n		16.1.1 The Little Broached Question of Ethics\n	16.2 Astronomical Detection of Possible Life\n		16.2.1 The Complex Relationship Between Signals and Ethics\n		16.2.2 Astronomical Signal Detection, the Goldilocks Zone, Habitation, and Ethics\n			16.2.2.1 Exoplanets\n			16.2.2.2 Exoplanets in the Goldilocks Zone\n			16.2.2.3 Exoplanets, Oxygen, and the ‘Red Edge’\n			16.2.2.4 The Great Leap from Plant Cover to Ethics\n	16.3 Operationalizing Human Neurological Features for an ETI Vetting Protocol\n		16.3.1 Parallel Moral Assessments by Host and Visitor\n		16.3.2 Anthropocene or ‘Adolescence’?\n		16.3.3 Vetting ETIs: Friend or Foe? Right vs. Wrong\n		16.3.4 Rationale and Approach: Operationalizing Human Neurology to Assess ETIs\n			16.3.4.1 Theory of Mind\n			16.3.4.2 Sequence of Evolutionary Innovations: Logical, Determinate, Systemic\n			16.3.4.3 Cultural, Moral, and Religious Capacities – How Important and in What Order?\n			16.3.4.4 Assessing ETIs for Culture\n		16.3.5 A Test for Neuroplasticity: The Clincher if We Have Time\n	16.4 Fictional Case Studies of Vetting ETIs\n		16.4.1 Examples from Film and Television\n		16.4.2 Case Study of the Film\n	16.5 Conclusion\n	References\n17 Intrinsic Value, American Buddhism, and Potential Life on Saturn’s Moon Titan\n	17.1 Introduction\n	17.2 Titan and Possible Weird Life\n	17.3 Some Strengths and Limitations of the Intrinsic Value Concept\n	17.4 Buddhist Scriptures and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life\n	17.5 American Buddhists and Life on Titan\n	17.6 Discussion\n	17.7 Conclusion\n	References\n18 A Space Settler’s Bill of Rights\n	18.1 Introduction\n	18.2 Basic Physiological Needs\n	18.3 Physical and Psychological Well-Being\n	18.4 Freedom of Expression\n	18.5 Privacy\n	18.6 Reproductive Autonomy\n	18.7 Vocational and Educational Liberty\n	18.8 Communication\n	18.9 Constrained Dissent\n	18.10 Self-Governance and Revisability\n	18.11 Conclusion\n	References\nIndex\nEULA