Astrobiology and Humanism

Astrobiology and Humanism Astrobiology and Humanism: Conversations on Science, Philosophy and Theology By Julian Chela-Flores Astrobiology and Humanism: Conversations on Science, Philosophy and Theology By Julian Chela-Flores This book first published 2019 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2019 by Julian Chela-Flores All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-3436-7 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-3436-0 To: Sarah Catherine Mary Dowling Philosophy, as I shall understand the word, is something intermediate between theology and science. Like theology, it consists of speculations on matters as to which definite knowledge has, so far, been unascertainable; but like science it appeals to human reason rather than authority, whether that of tradition or that of revelation…But between theology and science there is a No Man’s Land, exposed to attack from both sides; this No Man’s Land is philosophy. —Bertrand Russell: “History of Western Philosophy and its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day”. 2nd Edition. George Allen & Unwin, London (1991), p. 13. Contrary to the popular but inaccurate picture of science and theology being at loggerheads with each other, the fact of the matter is that there is a lively debate between the two disciplines, and many of the contributors to that debate are themselves scientists with a personal commitment to religion and a serious concern with theology. —John Polkinghorne: "Scientists as Theologians A comparison of the writings of Ian Barbour, Arthur Peacocke and John Polkinghorne". SPCK Publishing, London (1996), p. ix. Then I discovered evolution. Suddenly—that is not too strong a word—I saw the world in a whole new light...I had experienced the Ionian enchantment...It means a belief in the unity of the sciences—a conviction far deeper than a mere working proposition, that the world is orderly and can be explained by a small number of natural laws. Its roots go back to Thales of Miletus, in Ionia, in the sixth century B.C. —Edward Osborne Wilson: "Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge". Alfred A. Knopf, New York (1998), p. 4. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword xi Preface xiv Introduction Scientists and believers 1 Science communication at the frontiers of philosophy and 2 theology 2 The group of believers will eventually reach over 5 billion people 2 3 Endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful are evolving 3 4 Endless forms most wonderful may evolve elsewhere 5 5 Humanism from the point of view of believers and non-believers 7 6 Motivation for writing the book 9 7 Acknowledgements 10 References of the Foreword and the Introduction 12 BOOK I Astrobiology and the humanities Part 1: Pioneers in the dialogue between astrobiology and the 19 humanities 1 A passion for astrobiology and progress of the emerging nations 20 2 A prophet of our times? 23 3 Art and mathematics in the intelligibility of science 25 viii Table of Contents Part 2: Dialogues between science and the humanities 29 4 Search for truth 30 5 Dialogue between believers and non-believers 31 6 Frontiers for rationalization of astrobiology and theology 32 7 Frontiers of science and the humanities 33 8 How different would evolution be elsewhere? 34 9 Astrobiology and Divine Action both focus on the destiny of life 35 10 Steps beyond the frontiers of astrobiology 36 References of Book I 37 BOOK II Darwinism: A universal thesis for astrobiology Part 1: Frontiers of astrobiology and the humanities 41 1 The emergence of science, philosophy and religion 42 2 The philosophy of astrobiology 43 3 Astrobiology in a cultural context 44 4 The discovery of the Galilean moons 46 5 Darwin’s “So simple a beginning” is astrobiology’s main 49 problem 6 What is the position of our tree of life in the universe? 51 7 Is there a Second Genesis in the cosmos? 53 Part 2: Rationalizing the origin of life 57 8 A novel approach to the origin of life 58 9 Life as a cosmic imperative 60 Astrobiology and Humanism: Conversations on Science, Philosophy ix and Theology 10 A theological acceptance of evolution? 61 References of Book II 64 BOOK III Defining the frontiers of astrobiology Part 1: Frontiers of science, philosophy and theology 67 1 How precisely did life begin? 68 2 Natural Selection played a role after life began 70 3 Beyond relativism 72 4 The question of the origin of life early in Western philosophy 73 Part 2: Three pioneers at the frontiers of astrobiology 75 5 Astrobiology and the Moon 76 6 "Having a piece of the Moon in my hands" 76 7 From music to an original approach to life’s origin 79 8 A marquess in search of the origin of life and the oceans 80 References of Book III 81 BOOK IV Astrobiology interpreted as cosmic biology Part 1: Life elsewhere in the cosmos 85 1 Astrobiology: intelligences beyond our cosmic neighbourhood 86 2 Relevant questions from science fiction about other intelligences 88 3 Searching for life on Mars 89 4 Searching for life in and beyond the outer Solar System 90 x Table of Contents a. Europa 90 b. The outer Solar System beyond Europa 92 c. Beyond our Solar System 93 Part 2: To conclude our conversations 95 5 Bringing two cultures closer together in harmony 96 6 The delusion that science has no frontiers 97 7 From natural science seamlessly to theology 99 8 The convergence of science and religion 100 References of Book IV 102 Appendices 1 A simple introduction to astrobiology 106 2 Sources of the illustrations 107 3 The early growth of astrobiology 110 4 Proceedings and books on astrobiology 114 5 Book reviews on astrobiology 116 6 Short biographies 117 7 Glossary 129 8 Abbreviations 137 9 The author 138 Indices Name index 142 General index 145 FOREWORD The goal of maximizing human flourishing—life, health, happiness, freedom, knowledge, love, richness of experience—may be called humanism. —Steven Pinker: "Enlightenment Now: The case for reason, science, humanism and progress". Penguin Books, London (2019). Culture, especially intercultural communication, is a topic in which scientists, philosophers and theologians have much to learn. Since the times of ancient Greece, a certain antagonism between faith and reason has been inevitable, but understandable. The general problem of finding the appropriate contribution of science in the context of humanism is not an easy task. It has a most significant precedent attempt in the seminal Dublin lectures: Nature and the Greeks and Science and Humanism (Schrödinger, 1996). The Austrian Physics Nobel laureate underlined the difficulties for such a broad topic to be covered by single individuals, whether scientists, or humanists (Schrödinger, 1944): We are only now beginning to acquire reliable material for welding together the sum total of all that is known into a whole; but, on the other hand, it has become next to impossible for a single mind fully to command more than a specialized portion of it. I can see no other escape from this dilemma (lest our true aim is lost for ever) than some of us should venture to embark on a synthesis of facts and theories, albeit with second hand and incomplete knowledge of some of them—and at the risk of making fools of ourselves. Accepting “the risk of making fools of ourselves”, we humbly follow Schrödinger, our distinguished predecessor, in a preliminary effort to "weld together the sum total of all that is known into a whole". We discuss the frontiers of science of life in the universe (astrobiology) with the humanities, because the existence of life in the cosmos raises questions that are meaningful to humanists. One of the aspects of humanism is the role of knowledge in maximizing human flourishing. Our time in history cannot be better highlighted than by an appraisal of the progress of knowing our position in the universe, which illuminates science, especially astrobiology, and the humanities. xii Foreword All aspects of life in the universe are among the most important conversations of our time. They involve, not only the frontiers of science, but they are relevant in a wider cultural context, in which ethics in intercultural communication is vital, and often sadly neglected, creating unnecessary confusion. Later on, we return repeatedly to ethics in science communication. But it is rewarding to notice that the question of ethics in the wider context of astrobiology, has been given its proper significant position in a cultural context—astrobioethics—a branch of astrobiology that studies the moral implications related to the presence of extra- terrestrial life (Cockell, 2008; Chon-Torres, 2018). In spite of the fact that ours is only a small book, a clear personal point of view has been expressed: the horizons and frontiers of science are fundamental. To make the work easier for our readership, we give full references to other views on science and humanism. By the end of last century, long before the name “astrobiology” was introduced for the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and destiny of life in the universe, the universality of Darwinism had already been discussed during the memorable Cambridge Centennial Conference, which commemorated one hundred years after Charles Robert Darwin’s passing away (Dawkins, 1983). We shall endeavour to illustrate that Darwinism is conceivably the most influential scientific contribution of all time, as we have maintained in our earlier book (Chela-Flores, 2011).

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