Philosophy
Time for definitions...
Abstract:
When we try to search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence, we have to follow some guidelines. The first step is to clarify what is to be meant by “Life” and “intelligence”, i.e. an attempt to define these words. The word "definition''refers to two different situations. First, it means an arbitrary convention. On the other hand it also often designates an attempt to clarify the content of a preexisting word for which we have some spontaneous preconceptions, whatever their grounds, and to catch an (illusory) "essence" of what is defined. It is then made use of pre-existing plain language words which carry an a priori prescientific content likely to introduce some confusion in the reader's mind. The complexity of the problem will be analyzed and we will show that some philosophical prejudice is unavoidable. There are two types of philosophy: “Natural Philosophy”, seeking for some essence of things, and “Critical (or analytical) Philosophy”, devoted to the analysis of the procedures by which we claim to construct a reality. An extension of Critical Philosophy, Epistemo-Analysis (i.e. the Psycho-Analysis of concepts) is presented and applied to the definition of Life and to Astrobiology.
"Philosophy and problems of the definition of Extraterrestrial Life" by Jean Schneider
- Is Water H20?
Hallq, over at Uncredible Hallq, is reading one of my favorite pieces by Hilary Putnam and failing to see what is so wonderful about it, so I thought I'd pipe in because it's a puzzle and an argument that I didn't get at first either, but...
- Lecture 5 - Knowledge (epistemology)
Ever since Wittgenstein and his theory of family resemblance, philosophers have mainly abandoned the attempt to define concepts in terms of their "necessary and sufficient conditions" originally made famous by none other than Socrates. Still, the attempt...
- Man And Alien Encounter
Wake up alien believers, Seth D. Baum et. al. wrote a paper [ "Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis" ] discussing the possible scenarios of man and alien contact. Abstract While humanity has not yet observed...
- Non-western Interest In Extraterrestrial Life
I never gave this a thought. I just assumed [wrong] that just about everyone was interested in this issue. Abstract: Surprisingly, the question "Is there Life in the Universe outside Earth?" has been raised, in rational terms, almost only in the western...
- Glycine, Propanol, Propenal, Etc....life Forming Chemicals In Space
Glycine "Comet Contains One of Life’s Precursors" by Hadley Leggett August 17th, 2009 Wired Scientists have discovered the amino acid glycine, a critical component of all living things, hiding in samples from the comet Wild 2. It's the first...
Philosophy
Still looking...for extraterrestrial life
Time for definitions...
Abstract:
When we try to search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence, we have to follow some guidelines. The first step is to clarify what is to be meant by “Life” and “intelligence”, i.e. an attempt to define these words. The word "definition''refers to two different situations. First, it means an arbitrary convention. On the other hand it also often designates an attempt to clarify the content of a preexisting word for which we have some spontaneous preconceptions, whatever their grounds, and to catch an (illusory) "essence" of what is defined. It is then made use of pre-existing plain language words which carry an a priori prescientific content likely to introduce some confusion in the reader's mind. The complexity of the problem will be analyzed and we will show that some philosophical prejudice is unavoidable. There are two types of philosophy: “Natural Philosophy”, seeking for some essence of things, and “Critical (or analytical) Philosophy”, devoted to the analysis of the procedures by which we claim to construct a reality. An extension of Critical Philosophy, Epistemo-Analysis (i.e. the Psycho-Analysis of concepts) is presented and applied to the definition of Life and to Astrobiology.
"Philosophy and problems of the definition of Extraterrestrial Life" by Jean Schneider
- Is Water H20?
Hallq, over at Uncredible Hallq, is reading one of my favorite pieces by Hilary Putnam and failing to see what is so wonderful about it, so I thought I'd pipe in because it's a puzzle and an argument that I didn't get at first either, but...
- Lecture 5 - Knowledge (epistemology)
Ever since Wittgenstein and his theory of family resemblance, philosophers have mainly abandoned the attempt to define concepts in terms of their "necessary and sufficient conditions" originally made famous by none other than Socrates. Still, the attempt...
- Man And Alien Encounter
Wake up alien believers, Seth D. Baum et. al. wrote a paper [ "Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis" ] discussing the possible scenarios of man and alien contact. Abstract While humanity has not yet observed...
- Non-western Interest In Extraterrestrial Life
I never gave this a thought. I just assumed [wrong] that just about everyone was interested in this issue. Abstract: Surprisingly, the question "Is there Life in the Universe outside Earth?" has been raised, in rational terms, almost only in the western...
- Glycine, Propanol, Propenal, Etc....life Forming Chemicals In Space
Glycine "Comet Contains One of Life’s Precursors" by Hadley Leggett August 17th, 2009 Wired Scientists have discovered the amino acid glycine, a critical component of all living things, hiding in samples from the comet Wild 2. It's the first...