Valuing abiotic nature

Perspectives on Terraforming in K.S. Robinson Mars Trilogy

Authors

  • Pierfrancesco Biasetti Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34024/prometeica.2022.Especial.13529

Keywords:

Terraforming, Environmental Value, Value of abiotic nature, Kim Stanley Robinson, Mars trilogy

Abstract

In our everyday experience, life, environment, and nature are connected and we tend to confuse the value we assign to them. One way around this issue is to analyze our intuitions on the terraformation of other planets such as Mars. In this way, we are forced to consider whether the original abiotic nature has a value of some kind regardless of its capacity to support ecosystems and life, what kind of value this might be, and what weight it might have when compared with other values. In this contribution, I will draw a map of the possible answers to these questions by analyzing the different perspectives brought forth by some of the main characters in K. S. Robinson's The Mars Trilogy. In this way, it will be possible to observe that, while on Earth instrumental and non-instrumental kinds of environmental value generally concur and support each other, in an abiotic landscape, such as that offered (we assume) by Mars, they may conflict.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Augé M. 1992. Non-lieux. Introduction à une anthropologie de la surmodernité. Paris: Le Seuil

Beech M, Seckbach J, Gordon R. 2021. Terraforming Mars. Wiley-Scrivener.

Fogg MJ. 1995. Terraforming: Engineering Planetary Environments. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers

Gray M. 2005. Geodiversity and Geoconservation: What, Why, and How? «The George Wright forum» 22:4–12.

Jamieson D. 2008. Ethics and the Environment. An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lee K. 1994. Awe and Humility: Intrinsic Value in Nature. Beyond an Earthbound Environmental Ethics. In: Attfield R and Belsey A (eds.), Philosophy and the Natural Environment, Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 36, 89–101. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

McKay CP, Marinova MM. 2001 The Physics, Biology and Environmental Ethics of Making Mars Habitable. «Astrobiology» 1(1):89–109

McKay CP, Zubrin R. 2002. Do indigenous martian bacteria have precedence over human exploration? In: On to Mars: Colonizing a New World, New York: Apogee Books Space Series

McMahon S. 2016. The Aesthetic Objection to Terraforming Mars. In: Schwartz J, Milligan T (eds) The Ethics of Space Exploration. Cham: Springer, Cham.

O’Neill J. 1992. The Varieties of Intrinsic Value. «The Monist» 75-2.

Otto E. 2003. Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy and the Leopoldian Land Ethic. «Utopian Studies» 14(2): 118–135.

Robinson KS. 2009a [1992]. Red Mars. London: Harper Collins.

Robinson KS. 2009b [1992]. Green Mars. London: Harper Collins.

Robinson KS. 2009c [1996]. Blue Mars. London: Harper Collins

Rolston H III. 1986. The Preservation of Natural Value in the Solar System. In: Hargrove E (ed.), Beyond Spaceship Earth: Environmental Ethics and the Solar System, 140–82. San Francisco: Sierra Club Book

Sagan C. 1961. The Planet Venus. «Science». 62:849–858

Schulze-Makuch D, Fairén A, & Davila A. 2008. The case for life on Mars. «International Journal of Astrobiology», 7(2): 117-141.

Schulze-Makuch D, Méndez A, Fairén AG, Von Paris P, Turse C, Boyer G, Davila AF, António MRDS, Catling D, Irwin LN. 2011. A two-tiered approach to assessing the habitability of exoplanets. «Astrobiology» 11:1041–1052.

Schwartz JSJ. 2013. On the moral permissibility of terraforming. «Ethics and the Environment» 18:1–31.

Sparrow R. 1999. The Ethics of Terraforming. «Environmental Ethics». 21:227–245.

York P. 1995. The Ethics of Terraforming. «Philosophy Now». 1–7.

Downloads

Published

2022-08-11

Issue

No. Especial (2022): Prometeica - nº Special

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Prometeica - Journal of Philosophy and Science

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Copyright: Prometeica allows the author (s) to keep their copyrights unrestricted. Prometeica allows the author (s) to retain their publication rights without restriction. Authors should ensure that the article is an original work without fabrication, fraud or plagiarism; does not infringe any copyright or right of ownership of any third party. Authors should also ensure that each one complies with the authorship requirements as recommended by the ICMJE and understand that if the article or part of it is flawed or fraudulent, each author shares responsibility.

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Prometeica - Journal of Philosophy and Sciences is governed by the licencse CC-By-NC

You are free to:

  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Under the following terms:

No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

 

Copyright maintenance

Prometeica allows the author (s) to keep their copyright without restrictions.

Prometeica allows the author (s) to retain their publication rights without restriction.

How to Cite

Biasetti, P. (2022). Valuing abiotic nature: Perspectives on Terraforming in K.S. Robinson Mars Trilogy. Prometeica - Journal of Philosophy and Science, Especial, 79-90. https://doi.org/10.34024/prometeica.2022.Especial.13529
Received 2022-02-28
Accepted 2022-07-18
Published 2022-08-11