Abstract
At the beginning of the 20th century,extraterrestrial beings started to appear in biological thought. In literature,of course,they have a long history,and astronomers have speculated about life on other planets since the 17th century. However, these creatures were not situated in the framework of biological discourse: they were mirrors for criticising the social or political shortcomings of earthly life, they were arguments invoked to corroborate theological arguments about the creation, or they served as a means to reflect on the imperialistic aspiration of European powers.342
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References
For a history of the extraterrestrial, cf. Dick, Steven J. The Biological Universe. The Twentieth-Century Extraterrestrial Life Debate and the Limits of Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996; Weber, Thomas P. (ed.) Science & Fiction II. Leben auf anderen Sternen. Frankfurt/ Main: Fischer, 2004; Crowe, Michael J. The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, 1750–1900: The Idea of a Plurality of Worlds from Kant to Lowell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
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Cf. for example Wallace, Alfred Russell. Man’s Place in the Universe: a study of the results of scientific research in relation to the unity or plurality of worlds. London: Chapmann & Hall, 1903.
By mainstream biology, I understand a discourse that is framed by the Evolutionary Synthesis and has as its objects terrestrial organisms as they are empirically accessible, either via fossils or via living specimens. This concept, however, should not be taken too strictly as its borders are always in motion. 346 Evolutionary biologist George G. Simpson voiced the accusation that exobiology is a “’science’ [which] has yet to prove that its subject matter exists”, cf. Simpson, George Gaylord. “The Non-prevalence of Humanoids.” Science 143 (1964): 769–775. 769.
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For the epistemological assumptions underlying this debate, cf. Baron, Christian. “Epistemic values in the Burgess Shale debate.” Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 40 (2009): 286–295.
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Ibid. 25.
Ibid. 132.
Ibid. 314.
Ibid. 48.
Gould, Stephen Jay. The Flamingo’s Smile. Reflections in Natural History. New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1985: 406. Gould defends SETI on the basis that, at the moment, it represents the only available way to leave the realms of speculation.
Gould, Stephen Jay. Wonderful Life. The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History. London: Hutchinson Radius, 1990: 291.
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Ibid. 205.
Conway Morris, Simon. Life’s Solution. Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Ibid. 308.
Dick, Steven J. and James Strick. op. cit. 9.
Conway Morris, Simon. Life’s Solution. Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003: 332.
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NASA was actively engaged in establishing theoretical biology; however, I would like to argue that despite that effort, which did produce remarkable work, the discussion about criteria for life signs was driven by a pragmatic and self-reflecting approach. For NASA and theoretical biology, cf. Dick, Steven J. and James Strick, op. cit. 63.
Dick, Steven J. and James Strick, op. cit. 30–35. 57.
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For an analysis of ethic considerations in the encounter of extraterrestrials cf. Cockell, Charles. “Ethics and extraterrestrial life.” (in this volume).
Ibid. 165; 191.
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Ibid. 859.
Conway Morris, Simon. Life’s Solution. Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003: 5.
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Brandstetter, T. (2011). Alien life: remarks on the exobiological perspective in recent terrestrial biology. In: Landfester, U., Remuss, NL., Schrogl, KU., Worms, JC. (eds) Humans in Outer Space — Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Studies in Space Policy, vol 5. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-0280-0_11
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