Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T20:36:13.044Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Space Colonization and Existential Risk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2019

JOSEPH GOTTLIEB Open the ORCID record for JOSEPH GOTTLIEB [Opens in a new window]
JOSEPH GOTTLIEB*
Affiliation:
TEXAS TECH [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ian Stoner has recently argued that we ought not to colonize Mars because (1) doing so would flout our pro tanto obligation not to violate the principle of scientific conservation, and (2) there is no countervailing considerations that render our violation of the principle permissible. While I remain agnostic on (1), my primary goal in this article is to challenge (2): there are countervailing considerations that render our violation of the principle permissible. As such, Stoner has failed to establish that we ought not to colonize Mars. I close with some thoughts on what it would take to show that we do have an obligation to colonize Mars and related issues concerning the relationship between the way we discount our preferences over time and projects with long time horizons, like space colonization.

Keywords

space colonizationMarsexistential riskthe principle of scientific conservation
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the American Philosophical Association , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , Fall 2019 , pp. 306 - 320
Copyright
Copyright © American Philosophical Association 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

For helpful comments and discussion, many thanks to Alexis Elder, Bob Fischer, Jessica Gottlieb, Judith Gottlieb, Saja Parvizian, Jeremy Schwartz, Joel Velasco, and three anonymous referees for the Journal of the American Philosophical Association.

References

Beckstead, Nick. (2015) ‘How Much Could Refuges Help Us Recover from a Global Catastrophe?’ Futures, 72, 36–44.Google Scholar
Bostrom, Nick. (2003) ‘Astronomical Waste: The Opportunity Cost of Delayed Technological Development’. Utilitas, 15, 308–14.Google Scholar
Cockell, Charles S., ed. (2016a) Dissent, Revolution and Liberty beyond Earth. Cham: Springer.Google Scholar
Cockell, Charles S. (2016b) ‘Disobedience in Outer Space’. In Cockell, Charles (ed.), Dissent, Revolution and Liberty beyond Earth (Cham: Springer), 21–40.Google Scholar
Dundas, Colin M., Alfred S., McEwen, Matthew, Chojnacki, Moses P., Milasso, Shane, Byrne, Jim N., McElwaine, and Anna, Urso. (2017) ‘Granular Flows at Recurring Slope Lineae on Mars Indicate a Limited Role for Liquid Water’. Nature Geoscience, 10, 903–7.Google Scholar
Finneron-Burns, Elizabeth. (2017) ‘What's Wrong with Human Extinction?’ Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 47, 327–43.Google Scholar
Frick, Johann. (2017) ‘On the Survival of Humanity’. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 47, 344–67.Google Scholar
Greene, Preston. (n.d.). ‘Time Bias, Social Bias, and Future Generations’ (Unpublished manuscript). Available at: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56d45b30f699bb6f0beeaf5a/t/5c396958b8a04593c3dccbf6/1547266394879/Greene%2C+Time+Bias%2C+Social+Bias%2C+and+Future+Generations.pdf.Google Scholar
Greene, Preston, and Sullivan, Meghan. (2015) ‘Against Time Bias’. Ethics, 125, 947–70.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Alan M., and J. Scott, Matthews. (2012) ‘Why Do Citizens Discount the Future? Public Opinion and the Timing of Policy Consequences.’ British Journal of Political Science, 42, 903–35.Google Scholar
Impey, Chris. (2015) Beyond: Our Future in Space. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
McKay, Christopher P., and Margarita M., Marinova. (2001) ‘The Physics, Biology, and Environmental Ethics of Making Mars Habitable’. Astrobiology, 1, 89–109.Google Scholar
Milligan, Tony. (2016) ‘Constrained Dissent and the Rights of Future Generations’. In Cockell, Charles S. (ed.), Dissent, Revolution and Liberty beyond Earth (Cham: Springer), 7–20.Google Scholar
Mueller, Robert P., Tracy R., Gill, Wiley J., Larson, and Jeffrey S., Brink. (2012) ‘Effective Utilization of Resources and Infrastructure for a Spaceport Network Architecture’. AIAA SPACE 2012 Conference and Exposition, AIAA SPACE Forum. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2012-5233.Google Scholar
Musk, Elon. (2017) ‘Making Humans a Multi-Planetary Species’. New Space, 5, 46–61.Google Scholar
Ojha, Lujendra, Mary Beth, Wilhelm, Scott L., Murchie, Alfred S., McEwen, James J., Wray, Jennifer, Hanley, Marion, Massé, and Matthew, Chojnacki. (2015) ‘Spectral Evidence for Hydrated Salts in Recurring Slope Lineae on Mars’. Nature Geoscience, 8, 829–32.Google Scholar
Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate. (2018) ‘High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC)’. SMAB Projects. National Air and Space Administration. Last modified December 13, 2018. Available at: https://sacd.larc.nasa.gov/smab/havoc/.Google Scholar
Parfit, Derek. (1984) Reasons and Persons. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ross, W. D. (1930) The Right and the Good. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Schwartz, James S. J. (2011) ‘Our Moral Obligation to Support Space Colonization’. Environmental Ethics, 33, 67–88.Google Scholar
Schwartz, James S. J. (2016) ‘Lunar Labor Relations’. In Cockell, Charles S. (ed.), Dissent, Revolution and Liberty beyond Earth (Cham: Springer), 41–48.Google Scholar
Schwartz, James S. J. (2019). ‘Space Settlement: What's the Rush?’ Futures. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2019.02.013.Google Scholar
Stoner, Ian. (2017). ‘Humans Should Not Colonize Mars’. Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 3, 334–53.Google Scholar
Szocik, Konrad, Rafael Elias, Marques, Steven, Abood, Aleksandra, Kędziord, Kateryna, Lysenko-Rybad, and Dobrochna, Minich. (2018) ‘Biological and Social Challenges of Human Reproduction in a Long-Term Mars Base’. Futures, 100, 56–62.Google Scholar