Philosophy – The Primordial Scoop

Spacek vs. Cleland: is term ‘life’ useful or useless in astrobiology?

We enjoyed a heated, in-person discussion about the usefulness of life during a debate hosted by the University of Florida. Although we both maintained our divergent positions, we discovered that our advice to astrobiologists is identical: look for anomalies.

By Jan Spacek February 5, 2024Astrobiology, Life, Microscoop, Philosophy3 Comments

Astrobiology Life Philosophy Venus

Are Venusians ‘life’?

Apology for beating the dead horse yet again, …but why should we assume that ‘life’ is useful for astrobiologists now, when it was useless for virologists for over a century?

By Jan Spacek June 3, 2022Astrobiology, Life, Philosophy, Venus3 Comments

Astrobiology Life Philosophy

Why the term ‘life’ is useless in astrobiology

A post to make you laugh and then perhaps think about the meaninglessness of ‘life’ as a scientific term.

By Jan Spacek May 26, 2022Astrobiology, Life, PhilosophyNo Comments

Astrobiology Life Philosophy

Why astrobiologists should NOT get rid of the term ‘life’

Carol Cleland rebuts Spacek's argument about uselessness of the term 'life' to astrobiologists. According to her 'life' is useful despite our inability to define it.

By Carol Cleland May 24, 2022Astrobiology, Life, Philosophy1 Comment