-
176Astrobiologins filosofi - Några frågor rörande praktisk filosofiFilosofiska Notiser 8 (2): 25-38. 2021.Denna artikel är den andra i en serie om två artiklar som introducerar astrobiologins filosofi. Detta är ett förhållandevis nytt och i Sverige nästan okänt forskningsfält som dock befinner sig i snabb tillväxt internationellt. Ämnet presenteras här i form av exempel på några centrala frågeställningar inom området. I den här artikeln presenteras några frågeställningar hemmahörande i praktisk filosofi
-
66Life, Definition of (edited book, 2nd ed.)There have through history been many attempts to define 'life' but there is no generally accepted definition of 'life' at this date. As a result, some have come to believe that defining 'life' is not a fruitful endeavour. This seems to be a minority view, however, since the quest to find or create a definition of 'life' is as active as ever.
-
154Astrobiology as Science (edited book, 3rd ed.)Springer. 2023.“Astrobiology as science” refers to how astrobiology is characterized and discussed in the philosophy of science.
-
174What does it mean for a species to be alien - and why is it a bad thing?In Andrés Garcia, Mattias Gunnemyr & Jakob Werkmäster (eds.), Value, Morality & Social Reality: Essays dedicated to Dan Egonsson, Björn Petersson & Toni Rønnow-Rasmussen, Department of Philosophy, Lund University. pp. 327-339. 2023.
-
125Emerging plurality of life: Assessing the questions, challenges and opportunitiesFrontiers Human Dynamics 5 1153668. 2023.Research groups around the world are currently busy trying to invent new life in the laboratory, looking for extraterrestrial life, or making machines increasingly more life-like. In the case of astrobiology, any newly discovered life would likely be very old, but when discovered it would be new to us. In the case of synthetic organic life or life-like machines, humans will have invented life that did not exist before. Together, these endeavors amount to what we call the emerging plurality of li…Read more
-
167Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly influential in most people’s lives. This raises many philosophical questions. One is what responsibility we have as individuals to guide the development of AI in a desirable direction. More specifically, how should this responsibility be distributed among individuals and between individuals and other actors? We investigate this question from the perspectives of five principles of distribution that dominate the discussion about responsibility …Read more
-
170Public Perceptions concerning Responsibility for Climate Change AdaptationSustainability 13 (22). 2021.For successful climate change adaptation, the distribution of responsibility within society is an important question. While the literature highlights the need for involving both public and private actors, little is still known of how citizens perceive their own and others’ responsibility, let alone the moral groundings for such perceptions. In this paper, we report the results of a survey regarding people’s attitudes towards different ways of distributing responsibility for climate change adapta…Read more
-
146Vad gör en växt främmande? – Några olika perspektivIn Johanna Alkan Olsson, Helena Hanson, Erik Persson, Carina Sjöholm & Niklas Vareman (eds.), Växtvärk - Perspektiv på invasiva främmande växter i svensk natur. pp. 31-42. 2021.
-
31Expert responsibility in AI developmentAI and Society 1-12. 2022.The purpose of this paper is to discuss the responsibility of AI experts for guiding the development of AI in a desirable direction. More specifically, the aim is to answer the following research question: To what extent are AI experts responsible in a forward-looking way for effects of AI technology that go beyond the immediate concerns of the programmer or designer? AI experts, in this paper conceptualised as experts regarding the technological aspects of AI, have knowledge and control of AI t…Read more
-
158The axiological dimension of planetary protectionIn Octavio Alfonso Chon Torres, Ted Peters, Joseph Seckbach & Richard Gordon (eds.), Astrobiology: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy, Policy Scrivener Publishing, Wiley. pp. 293-312. 2021.Planetary protection is not just a matter of science. It is also a matter of value. This is so independently of whether we only include the protection of science or if we also include other goals. Excluding other values than the protection of science is thus a value statement, not a scientific statement and it does not make planetary protection value neutral. It just makes the axiological basis (that is, the value basis) for planetary protection more limited in a way that is inconsistent with th…Read more
-
255Distribution of responsibility is one of the main focus areas in discussions about climate change ethics. Most of these discussions deal with the distribution of responsibility for climate change mitigation at the international level. The aim of this paper is to investigate if and how these principles can be used to inform the search for a fair distribution of responsibility for climate change adaptation on the local level. We found that the most influential distribution principles on the intern…Read more
-
225Synthetic life and the value of lifeFrontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 9. 2021.If humans eventually attain the ability to create new life forms, how will it affect the value of life? This is one of several questions that can be sources of concern when discussing synthetic life, but is the concern justified? In an attempt to answer this question, I have analyzed some possible reasons why an ability to create synthetic life would threaten the value of life in general (that is, not just of the synthetic creations), to see if they really give us reason to worry. The main concl…Read more
-
260Astrobiologins filosofi - Några frågor rörande teoretisk filosofiFilosofiska Notiser 8 (2): 3-23. 2021.Denna artikel är den första i en serie om två artiklar som introducerar astrobiologins filosofi. Detta är ett förhållandevis nytt och i Sverige nästan okänt forskningsfält som dock befinner sig i snabb tillväxt internationellt. Ämnet presenteras här i form av exempel på några centrala frågeställningar inom området. I den här artikeln presenteras några frågeställningar hemmahörande i teoretisk filosofi.
-
251Sustainable Distribution of Responsibility for Climate Change AdaptationChallenges 11 (11). 2020.To gain legitimacy for climate change adaptation decisions, the distribution of responsibility for these decisions and their implementation needs to be grounded in theories of just distribution and what those aected by decisions see as just. The purpose of this project is to contribute to sustainable spatial planning and the ability of local and regional public authorities to make well-informed and sustainable adaptation decisions, based on knowledge about both climate change impacts and the per…Read more
-
384James S. J. Schwartz and Tony Milligan, eds.: The Ethics of Space ExplorationEnvironmental Ethics 41 (2): 181-184. 2019.Review of James S. J. Schwartz and Tony Milligan, eds.: The Ethics of Space Exploration
-
23Ethics for an Uninhabited PlanetIn Konrad Szocik (ed.), The Human Factor in a Mission to Mars: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Springer. pp. 201-216. 2019.Some authors argue that we have a moral obligation to leave Mars the way it is, even if it does not harbour any life. This claim is usually based on an assumption that Mars has intrinsic value. The problem with this concept is that different authors use it differently. In this chapter, I investigate different ways in which an uninhabited Mars is said to have intrinsic value. First, I investigate whether the planet can have moral standing. I find that this is not a plausible assumption. I then in…Read more
-
628Visions of a Martian FutureFutures 117. 2020.As we look beyond our terrestrial boundary to a multi-planetary future for humankind, it becomes paramount to anticipate the challenges of various human factors on the most likely scenario for this future: permanent human settlement of Mars. Even if technical hurdles are circumvented to provide adequate resources for basic physiological and psychological needs, Homo sapiens will not survive on an alien planet if a dysfunctional psyche prohibits the utilization of these resources. No matter …Read more
-
143AfterwordIn Klara Anna Capova, Erik Persson, Tony Milligan & David Duner (eds.), Astrobiology and Society in Europe Today, Springer. pp. 55-60. 2018.
-
312Values related to culture, identity, community cohesion and sense of place have sometimes been downplayed in the climate change discourse. However, they have been suggested to be not only important to citizens but the values most vulnerable to climate change. Here we test four empirical consequences of the suggestion: at least 50% of the locations citizens' consider to be the most important locations in their municipality are chosen because they represent these values, locations representing the…Read more
-
244Forest Owners' Response to Climate Change : University Education Trumps Value ProfilePLoS ONE 11 (5). 2016.Do forest owners’ levels of education or value profiles explain their responses to climate change? The cultural cognition thesis has cast serious doubt on the familiar and often criticized "knowledge deficit" model, which says that laypeople are less concerned about climate change because they lack scientific knowledge. Advocates of CCT maintain that citizens with the highest degrees of scientific literacy and numeracy are not the most concerned about climate change. Rather, this is the group in…Read more
-
330How will the emerging plurality of lives change how we conceive of and relate to life?Challenges 10 (1). 2019.The project “A Plurality of Lives” was funded and hosted by the Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies at Lund University, Sweden. The aim of the project was to better understand how a second origin of life, either in the form of a discovery of extraterrestrial life, life developed in a laboratory, or machines equipped with abilities previously only ascribed to living beings, will change how we understand and relate to life. Because of the inherently interdisciplinary nature of the project aim…Read more
-
640Ethics for an uninhabited planetIn Konrad Szocik (ed.), The Human Factor in a Mission to Mars: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Springer. pp. 201-216. 2019.Some authors argue that we have a moral obligation to leave Mars the way it is, even if it does not harbour any life. This claim is usually based on an assumption that Mars has intrinsic value. The problem with this concept is that different authors use it differently. In this chapter, I investigate different ways in which an uninhabited Mars is said to have intrinsic value. First, I investigate whether the planet can have moral standing. I find that this is not a plausible assumption. I then in…Read more
-
601A philosophical outlook on potential conflicts between planetary protection, astrobiology and commercial use of spaceIn Zoe Lehmann-Imfeld & Andreas Losch (eds.), Our Common Cosmos, Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 141-160. 2019.The aim of this chapter is to use philosophy and, in particular ethical theory, to identify and explore some potential conflicts.
-
611Astrobiology and Society in Europe Today (edited book)Springer. 2018.This book describes the state of astrobiology in Europe today and its relation to the European society at large. With contributions from authors in more than 20 countries and over 30 scientific institutions worldwide, the document illustrates the societal implications of astrobiology and the positive contribution that astrobiology can make to European society. The book has two main objectives: 1. It recommends the establishment of a European Astrobiology Institute (EAI) as an answer to a serie…Read more
-
24Environment and SustainabilityIn Klara Anna Capova, Erik Persson, Tony Milligan & David Dunér (eds.), Astrobiology and Society in Europe Today. pp. 25-30. 2018.There are strong links between astrobiology and environmental concern. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe—including Earth. Understanding life, and in particular the basic conditions for life, is important for our ability to create a sustainable future on Earth. The connection goes both ways, however. The preservation of biodiversity and of pristine environments on Earth is of the greatest importance for our ability to study life, its origi…Read more
-
1318Skapat liv och livets värdeIn LIV – Utomjordiskt, Syntetiskt, Artificiellt, Pufendorfinstitutet. pp. 219-237. 2017.Om människan någon gång kommer att få förmågan att skapa nya livsformer, hur kommer det att påverka livets värde? Detta är en fråga som kan vara en källa till oro när man diskuterar konstgjort liv, men är oron befogad? I ett försök att svara på den frågan kommer jag att gå igenom några möjliga skäl till varför förmågan att skapa konstgjort liv skulle hota livets värde, och se om de verkligen ger oss skäl att oroa oss.
-
478A high standard of planetary protection is important for astrobiology, though the risk for contamination can never be zero. It is therefore important to find a balance. If extraterrestrial life has a moral standing in its own right, it will also affect what we have to do to protect it. The questions of how far we need to go to protect extraterrestrial life will be even more acute and complicated when the time comes to use habitable worlds for commercial purposes. There will also be conflicts bet…Read more
-
483Vad är liv? Jakten på en ny definition av livIn Jessica Abbott & Erik Persson (eds.), LIV – Utomjordiskt, Syntetiskt, Artificiellt, Pufendorfinstitutet. pp. 21-33. 2017.I årtusenden har människan försökt definiera livet – hur levande djur och växter skiljer sig från död materia. Problemet är dock att livet är mångfacetterat, och varje regel har sitt undantag. Vi försöker möta kommande utmaningar med nya livsformer, genom att lyfta fram en ny definition av liv.
Lund, Skane Lan, Sweden
Areas of Specialization
10 more
Areas of Interest
11 more