The Copernican Principle, Intelligent Extraterrestrials, and Arguments from Evil
Samuel Ruhmkorff
Summary
Explores the implications of the Copernican principle - the assumption that Earth and humanity are not cosmically privileged - for the question of intelligent extraterrestrial life and for classical theological arguments from evil. Bridges philosophy of religion and astrobiology in examining what a universe teeming with intelligent life would mean for ethical and theological frameworks.
Abstract
The physicist Richard Gott defends the Copernican principle, which claims that when we have no information about our position along a given dimension among a group of observers, we should consider ourselves to be randomly located among those observers in respect to that dimension. First, I apply Copernican reasoning to the distribution of evil in the universe. I then contend that evidence for intelligent extraterrestrial life strengthens four important versions of the argument from evil. I remain neutral regarding whether this result is a reductio of these arguments from evil or the statement of a genuine evidential relationship.
Citation
Samuel Ruhmkorff. (2019)