Biology
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p33c..08r&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P33C-08
Biology
[5200] Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology, [5215] Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology / Origin Of Life
Scientific paper
With its focus on the origin, extent, and future of life, Astrobiology raises exciting, multidisciplinary questions for science. At the same time, Astrobiology raises important questions for the humanities. For instance, the prospect of discovering extraterrestrial life - either intelligent or unintelligent - raises questions about humans’ place in the universe and our relationship with nature on planet Earth. Fundamentally, such questions are rooted in our understanding of what it means to be human. From a Christian perspective, the foundational claim about human nature is that all persons bear the "imago dei", the image of God. This concept forms the basis for how humans relate to one another (dignity) and how humans relate to nature (stewardship). For many Christians the "imago dei" also suggests that humans are at the center of the universe. The discovery of extraterrestrial life would be another scientific development - similar to evolution - that essentially de-centers humanity. For some Christian perspectives this de-centering may be problematic, but I will argue that the discovery of extraterrestrial life would actually offer a much needed theological corrective for contemporary Christians’ understanding of the "imago dei". I will make this argument by examining two clusters of ethical issues confronting Astrobiology: 1. What ethical obligations would human explorers owe to extraterrestrial life? Are there ethical obligations to protect extraterrestrial ecosystems from harm or exploitation by human explorers? Do our ethical considerations change, if the extraterrestrial life is a “second genesis;” in other words a form of life completely different and independent from the carbon-based life that we know on Earth? 2. Do we have an ethical obligation to promote life as much as we can? If human explorers discover extraterrestrial life and through examination determine that it is struggling to survive, do we have an ethical obligation to assist that ecological community to become stronger? If after a thorough investigation we determine that no life exists and that a planet is nothing more than a lifeless body of rocks and dust, do we have an ethical obligation to attempt the creation of life through a process called planetary ecosynthesis? Or, do we have the opposite obligation to respect the rocks and dust for what they are, and refrain from any attempts to engineer life on a lifeless planet? While these two clusters of issues pose new ethical questions, I will argue that from a Christian perspective the framework for responding to these challenges would remain the Genesis Creation stories and the concept of the "imago dei". However, the new ethical challenges posed by Astrobiology require a re-framing of the "imago dei" that is closer to the intent of the original scriptures and that predicts simultaneously the presence of extraterrestrial life and the de-centering of humanity.
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