Space Ethics: Creation, Commerce, Colonization

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The journeys of human beings into space have captivated the imagination but have also raised significant ethical issues. As the human presence in space for research, recreation, commerce, and possible future habitation becomes more frequent and the goals of space exploration more clear, the urgency of addressing the ethical issues surrounding the human presence in space has also increased. This course begins with an examination of theological understandings of the origin and meaning of the cosmos across a number of different religious traditions, with a particular focus on Christian theological account of creation. The second part of the course reviews the various ways that human beings have approached and are considering the human presence in space, including lunar exploration, commercial exploitation, and possible habitation. The third part of the course considers the ethical issues associated with space commerce, and the course concludes with a comparison between past sublunary colonizations and as-yet-unrealized space colonizations.