Astrobiology in Philosophy or Philosophy in Astrobiology?

Authors

  • Kristina Šekrst University of Zagreb

Keywords:

astrobiology, philosophy of astrobiology;, astrophilosophy

Abstract

This paper examines the interplay between astrobiology and philosophy, emphasizing how each field enriches the other and poses new questions. It argues that astrobiology’s study of the origins and distribution of life in the universe requires a broader philosophical framework, termed astrophilosophy. This discipline would address fundamental questions about reality, physical laws, and the nature of life beyond Earth. The paper highlights the educational importance of recognizing and redefining concepts such as life and intelligence in a universal context, critiquing the human-centric approach in current scientific and philosophical studies. It proposes that astrobiology’s educational scope should expand to include a universal perspective, fostering a deeper understanding of life and intelligence in the cosmos.

References

Carter, Brandon. “Large Number Coincidences and the Anthropic Principle in Cosmology.” In IAU Symposium 63: Confrontation of Cosmological Theories with Observational Data, edited by M. S. Longair, 291-298. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1974.

Ćirković, Milan. The Astrobiological Landscape: Philosophical Foundations of the Study of Cosmic Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Coustenis, Athena, and Thérèse Encrenaz. Life Beyond Earth: The Search for Habitable Worlds in the Universe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Dick, Steven J. Space, Time, and Aliens. Cham: Springer, 2020.

Dunér, David. “Introduction.” In The History and Philosophy of Astrobiology: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life and the Human Mind, edited by David Dunér, 1-28. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.

Fry, Iris. “Are the Different Hypotheses on the Emergence of Life as Different as They Seem?” Biology and Philosophy, vol. 10, 1995, pp. 389-417.

Fry, Iris. The Philosophy of Astrobiology: The Copernican and Darwinian Philosophical Presuppositions. In The Impact of Discovering Life Beyond Earth, edited by Steven J. Dick, 23-375. Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Guth, Alan H. The Inflationary Universe: The Quest for a New Theory of Cosmic Origins. London: Vintage, 1997.

Hegner, Ian von. “Astrobiology and Astrophilosophy: Subsuming or Bifurcating Disciplines.” Philosophy and Cosmology, vol. 23, 2019, pp. 62-79.

Jakosky, Bruce. "Philosophical Aspects of Astrobiology." In A New Era in Bioastronomy, edited by Guillermo Lemarchand and Karen Meech, 661-66. 2000.

Kolb, Vera. “Philosophy of Astrobiology: Some Recent Developments.” In Proc. SPIE 9606, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XVII, edited by Richard B. Hoover, Gilbert V. Levin, Alexei Yu Rozanov, and Nalin C. Wickramasingheh, 960605-1-960605-6. 2015.

Linde, Andrei. Particle Physics and Inflationary Cosmology. Chur, Switzerland: Harwood, 1990.

NASA. About Life Detection. 2022.

Persson, Erik. "Philosophical Aspects of Astrobiology." In The History and Philosophy of Astrobiology: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life and the Human Mind, edited by David Dunér, 29-48. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.

Rosch, Eleanor. "Natural Categories." Cognitive Psychology, vol. 4, 1973, pp. 328-50.

Schneider, Jean. "Philosophical Problems of the Definition of Extraterrestrial Life and Intelligence." In The History and Philosophy of Astrobiology: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life and the Human Mind, edited by David Dunér, 129-35. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.

Searle, John R. "Minds, Brains, and Programs." Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3, no. 3 (1980): 417-457.

Šekrst, Kristina. "Much Ado about Nothing: Cosmological and Anthropic Limits of Quantum Fluctuations." In Physics and Philosophy II, edited by Luka Boršić, Dragan Poljak, Ivana Skuhala Karasman, and Franjo Sokolić, 105-14. Zagreb: Institute of Philosophy, 2020.

Downloads

Published

26-07-2024

How to Cite

Šekrst, K. (2024). Astrobiology in Philosophy or Philosophy in Astrobiology?. Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 20(1), 405–415. Retrieved from https://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1140