Overview

One of the more contentious debates to emerge into scientific prominence has been whether life is prevalent in the cosmos and its level of complexity. The author of this book argues that, of the many factors that shape this debate, one of the most overlooked yet crucial rests on the different roles that temporal organization plays in biotic systems. Further, the author claims that, although the origin and evolution of life is dependent on the arrow of time, rooted in entropy, the traditional understanding of time’s arrow is insufficient to account for the diverse types of temporal processes characteristic of living organisms; most notably, the diverse functions played by past-present-future in shaping biotic systems. Far from a minor problem, he argues that the forms of temporal (bio-tensed) organization utilized by biotic systems shape not only the emergence and prevalence of all life, but also the scientific theories we use to explain the universe along with the moral concepts that inform our responsibilities to extraterrestrial life (should we find any).  Drawing from philosophy, the life sciences and astrobiology, this book claims that understanding the centrality of temporality for living systems provides crucial insights that help answer the epistemological, ethical and cosmological challenges that face astrobiology’s search for the origins and prevalence of life in the universe.

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9783031813573

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Dr. Jason J. Howard is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Ethics, Culture and Society at Viterbo University (La Crosse, Wisconsin).  He has published articles on Kant, Hegel, philosophy of emotion, philosophy of art, social-political philosophy, and has authored a book on ethics and another on enhancing students’ critical reasoning and collaborative problem-solving.  He is also the Chief Editor of the journal Analytic Philosophy and Philosophical Praxis. He has written two monographs, Adventures in Reasoning and Conscience in Moral Life . His primary research interests for the past eight years have focused on philosophical and ethical problems related to origins of life and the challenge of artificial intelligence.

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