Human Governance Beyond Earth Implications for Freedom
This book extends the discussion of the nature of freedom and what it means for a human to be free. This question has occupied the minds of thinkers since the Enlightenment. However, without exception, every one of these discussions has focused on the cha
- PDF / 2,647,288 Bytes
- 237 Pages / 453.543 x 683.15 pts Page_size
- 117 Downloads / 216 Views
Charles S. Cockell Editor
Human Governance Beyond Earth Implications for Freedom
Space and Society Series editor Douglas A. Vakoch, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, USA and California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11929
Charles S. Cockell Editor
Human Governance Beyond Earth Implications for Freedom
123
Editor Charles S. Cockell UK Centre for Astrobiology University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK
ISSN 2199-3882 Space and Society ISBN 978-3-319-18062-5 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-18063-2
ISSN 2199-3890
(electronic)
ISBN 978-3-319-18063-2
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015939158 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Finding a definition for ‘liberty’ or ‘freedom’ has never been successful. It is not surprising as these words encompass a vast variety of things. We might speak of freedom from state interference or the freedom to achieve our personal capacities with the help of the state. We might speak of freedom to choose our own government. We can talk of freedom of expression, of thought, of religious belief or freedom of movement. Many of these notions of freedom are interlinked, and some are even inseparable. Many of them can also be examined as separate social or political challenges, confounding the difficulties in finding a coherent self-consistent set of ideas that can be summarised as liberty. Nevertheless, it is also wise not to allow this complexity to lead one into cultural relativism: that all versions of liberty are just cultural permutations and combinations of these different ingredients, and therefore no human settlement or nation defines a better version of freedom. Freedom of expression, for ins
Data Loading...
