Cirkovic, Milan M. (2026) We the Living: There is absolutely nothing wrong with the species-level perspective on space settlement. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, 79. pp. 21-27.
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Abstract
Recent debates about human space activities in general, and space colonization and settlement in particular, have been accompanied by a panoply of rhetorical maneuvers and language games. An egregious example is repeated stigmatizing of space advocates and enthusiasts for using the first-person plural “we” to denote the scientific reality of humankind as a species. Here I show that this is not just a rhetorical strategy, but encapsulates a wider malady: a retreat from the universal, cosmopolitan, inclusive, humanist ideals of the Enlightenment and in more extreme versions, retreat from scientific realism and evolutionary worldview as well. Space advocates should not cede any linguistic or ethical grounds to skeptics deploying this rhetorical ploy, since it carries no cognitive or argumentative weight.
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| Item Type: | Published Article or Volume | ||||||
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| Additional Information: | Uncorrected proofs of the published article. | ||||||
| Keywords: | existential risk; space settlement; human spaceflight; NewSpace; space skepticism; rhetoric of science; postmodernism | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Engineering General Issues > Ethical Issues General Issues > Rhetoric of Science General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Technology |
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| Depositing User: | Milan Cirkovic | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 20 Apr 2026 12:52 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 20 Apr 2026 12:52 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 29257 | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of the British Interplanetary Society | ||||||
| Publisher: | British Interplanetary Society | ||||||
| Official URL: | https://www.bis-space.com/publications/jbis/ | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Engineering General Issues > Ethical Issues General Issues > Rhetoric of Science General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Technology |
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| Date: | March 2026 | ||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 21-27 | ||||||
| Volume: | 79 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/29257 |
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