The Meaning of Liberty Beyond Earth

The purpose of this book is to initiate a new discussion on liberty focusing on the infinite realms of space. The discussion of the nature of liberty and what it means for a human to be free has occupied the minds of thinkers since the Enlightenment. However, without exception, every one of these discussions has focused on the character of liberty on the Earth.The emergence of human space exploration programs in the last 40-50 years raise a fundamental and new question: what will be the future of liberty in space? This book takes the discussion of liberty into the extraterrestrial environment. In this book, new questions will be addressed such as: Can a person be free when the oxygen the individual breathes is the result of a manufacturing process controlled by someone else? Will the interdependence required to survive in the extremities of the extraterrestrial environment destroy individualism? What are the obligations of the individual to the extraterrestrial state? How can we talk of extraterrestrial liberty when everyone is dependent on survival systems?

Auteur
Charles Cockell is Professor of Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests are focused on microbial life in extreme environments. Prof. Cockell is co-author / editor of 8 books and a large number of research articles.

Contenu

The Cold Equations: Extraterrestrial Liberty in Science Fiction.- Fear of Freedom: the Legacy of Arendt and Ballard's Space Skepticism.- Freedom in a Box: Paradoxes in the Structure of Extraterrestrial Liberty.- Fairness as a Moral Grounding for Space Policy.- Space: John Locke's Ultimate Triumph.- Extraterrestrial Liberty and Creative Practice: a Firsthand Experience of an Imagined Future.- Elsewhere, Liberty.- The fate of Freedom of a Space Exploration Mission Encountering Life and the Liberty of the Encountered Extra-terrestrial Beings.- Astronaut Health: Planetary Exploration and the Limitations on Freedom.- Outrunning the Law: Extraterrestrial Liberty and Universal Colonisation.- The Lethality of Interplanetary Warfare: A Fundamental Constraint on Extraterrestrial Liberty.- Interplanetary Federalism: Maximising the Chances of Extraterrestrial Peace, Diversity and Liberty.- Liberty, Freedom and Democracy: Paradox for an Extraterrestrial Society.- Human Space Colonies: Towardsa Governance Architecture.- Education and liberty in space.