Authors:
- A unique exploration of potential connections between cosmic evolution and philosophical questions of value theory and meaning
- Develops three cosmic evolutionary worldviews and applies them to space policy challenges such as potential discovery of extraterrestrial life and the future of life in the universe
- Synthesizes and integrates across diverse scientific and philosophical disciplines to discern common fundamental underlying themes
- Explores the breadth, depth, and relative novelty of philosophical issues associated with cosmic evolution, including personal and social meaning,
Part of the book series: Space and Society (SPSO)
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Scientific and Philosophical Context
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Front Matter
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Cosmological Worldviews and Implications
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
Building from foundations of modern science and cosmic evolution, as well as psychological and philosophical perspectives of value and meaning, this book explores some of humanity’s biggest questions:
· Is the Universe “about something”?
· What might be roles for life and intelligence in cosmic evolution?
· How might we think about value, meaning, purpose, and ethics in a cosmic evolutionary context?
The author explores how the sciences of relativity and quantum theory, combined with cosmic evolution and philosophical traditions such as process philosophy, contribute to the development of a broad “relationalist framework”. That framework helps inform perspectives such as “scientific minimalism” and “cosmological theories of value”. Cosmological Reverence, Cosmocultural Evolution, and the Connection-Action Principle are explored as examples of cosmological theories of value, all of which help inform how we might think about ethics, value, and meaning in a cosmic context – including application to the search for extraterrestrial life and the future of intelligence in the universe.
This book will benefit a diverse range of practitioners in philosophy, science, and policy, including interdisciplinary fields such as Science and Society and cultural evolution studies.
From the Foreword:
“This volume ranges from the sciences of cosmic evolution, relativity, and quantum mechanics, to value theory and process philosophy, all with the goal of exploring how they relate to humanity in the sense of worldviews and meaning. With his three cosmological theories of value, Lupisella goes beyond the bounds of most books on naturalism, and into fundamental questions about the nature of the universe and our relation to it. To read Lupisella is to have a mind-boggling experience, to want to race to references, to want to know more.”
Steven J. Dick
Former Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/
Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology
Former NASA Chief Historian
Keywords
- Applied Philosophy
- Cosmic Evolution
- Epistemology
- Extraterrestrial Ethics
- Horizons Project
- Human Space Exploration
- Philosophy of Astrobiology
- Philosophy of Cosmology
- Philosophy of Space Exploration
- SETI
- Solar System Environmentalism
- Space Ethics
- Space Exploration
- Space Law
- Space Policy
- Space Science
- Worldview
Authors and Affiliations
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The Horizons Project, Ashburn, USA
Mark Lupisella
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Cosmological Theories of Value
Book Subtitle: Science, Philosophy, and Meaning in Cosmic Evolution
Authors: Mark Lupisella
Series Title: Space and Society
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25339-4
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-25337-0Published: 22 July 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-25339-4Published: 21 July 2020
Series ISSN: 2199-3882
Series E-ISSN: 2199-3890
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXIII, 221
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations, 6 illustrations in colour
Topics: Metaphysics, Evolutionary Biology, Cosmology, Epistemology, Astrobiology, Religion and Psychology