If certain business titans, corporations, and governments have their way, humans will someday be living, working, and vacationing in space. This is the much-vaunted New Space Age, and in Lunacy, philosopher Ben Bramble explains why it is a giant mistake. Bramble systematically refutes each of the ten most influential reasons given for this new generation of space exploration (and habitation), from the idea of Mars as a backup plan in case Earth meets an untimely end to the charms of friendship with extraterrestrials. Doing so, he reflects on deeper issues, exploring such questions as what the point of the human story is and what a good future for humanity would truly involve. (Spoiler alert: it includes solving problems on Earth.)
Bramble does not think we should get out of space entirely. On the contrary, he thinks that there is an important and exciting future in space science. Our activities in space, he tells us, should be animated by a curiosity about space itself rather than narrow economic or military interests.
Ben Bramble is lecturer in philosophy in the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University and a mission specialist at ANU’s Institute for Space. He is the author of The Passing of Momentary Well-Being and Pandemic Ethics: 8 Big Questions of COVID-19. His op-eds have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Sydney Morning Herald.
“At last, a voice for science and exploration that exposes the short-term thinking and robber baron mentality of this phase of the Space Age. Bramble brings a philosopher’s rigor to the key questions of the human future in space, stripping it of the high-powered salesmanship and empty fantasies promoted by a new generation of would-be conquistadores. An important book for anyone thinking of going to the Moon or Mars or beyond."—Ann Druyan, Creative Director of NASA’s Voyager Interstellar Message
“A lucid introduction to the major arguments in favor of space settlement, and an equally lucid refutation of those arguments. This is a helpful book for anyone interested in the problems and possibilities of space ethics.—Mary-Jane Rubenstein, author of Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race
“This book is a welcome addition to the discourse about the human future in space. Ben Bramble provides a thoughtful critique of the dominant narrative about expanding human presence into space. The book is well-sourced, well-balanced, and a breezy read.”—Linda Billings, consultant to NASA's Astrobiology and Planetary Defense Programs
