Overview
- Takes the discussion of liberty into the extraterrestrial environment
- Presents an interdisciplinary approach to the topic
- Serves an interdisciplinary readership of space policy makers, space engineers and scientists, social scientists
- Discusses the shifting meaning of freedom, liberty and democracy in environments beyond Earth
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Space and Society (SPSO)
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Table of contents (16 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Philosophical Basis of Extraterrestrial Liberty
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Front Matter
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The Policy and Practical Aspects of Extraterrestrial Liberty
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
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?
Reviews
“It demonstrates the value of the humanities and social science in the exercise of science and engineering. … This is a book that engineering and science students should read along with their subject matter texts. It will also be of value to philosophy and political science students, and others who want to inform their space policymaking capacity with some aspects of science. … In all, The Meaning of Liberty Beyond Earth is a thought-provoking book worth reading.” (Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz, Quest, Vol. 23 (1), 2016)
“This book transports us to the pioneering phase of a new branch of our subject ─ astrosociology. And what an engaging, stimulating and thought-provoking book it is.” (David W. Hughes, The Observatory, Vol. 135 (1246), June, 2015)
Editors and Affiliations
About the editor
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Meaning of Liberty Beyond Earth
Editors: Charles S. Cockell
Series Title: Space and Society
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09567-7
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-09566-0Published: 08 October 2014
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-37740-7Published: 22 September 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-09567-7Published: 24 September 2014
Series ISSN: 2199-3882
Series E-ISSN: 2199-3890
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 272
Number of Illustrations: 14 b/w illustrations
Topics: Societal Aspects of Physics, Outreach and Education, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Personality and Social Psychology, Astrobiology, Ethics