Neil Manson explains the hidden tension between environmental ethics and findings in cosmology over the last thirty years: if life exists throughout the universe, then we lose one main argument for caring what happens to life here on Earth.

Check out Neil Manson's paper, "Anthropocentrism, Exo-Planets, and the Cosmic Perspective".

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:45 Cosmological science today

00:10:25 Anthropocentrism, defined

00:15:16 Two kinds of anthropocentrism: biological and personal

00:30:46 Consequentialism

00:32:15 The cosmic perspective and non-anthropocentrism

00:40:47 Objection: Some infinities are better than other infinities

00:56:59 Why we should reject nonanthropocentrism

01:01:48 Should we seek to preserve nature?

01:18:25 Towards a stewardship model of environmentalism