物理与电子工程学院2019学术论坛之十七

Title: Will There Ever Be Human Life on Mars?

Speaker: Andrea Altobrando, School of Humanities,

China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL)

Time: 5:30pm , 18 April

Venue: 图书馆副楼5楼报告厅

Abstract:Several reasons can be advanced for colonizing Mars.　In my presentation, I will consider some which specificallyconcern the survival and/or the development of humankind and human culture. I will discuss whether such reasons can be consistently worked out, i.e. whether the colonization of Mars, if possible, could really realize the wishes said reasons correspond to. In order to do this, I will briefly sketch a quite neutral characterization of human nature, i.e. a characterization which is an-ethical or pre-ethical, and, as much as possible, void of cultural determinations. Since one of the main advocates of the colonization of Mars, namely Robert Zubrin, considers said colonization as essential in order to preserve and to further foster human freedom, and even human rights, I will outline the general features of a consciously self-determining agent, and I will enquire whether the future colonists of Mars will be able to correspond to such a picture. The question, then, will be whether, even assuming that humans will reach Mars, and they will found colonies over there, the following inhabitants of Mars will still be able to be considered as human beings. Will There Ever Be Human Life on Mars?

Speaker: Andrea Altobrando is currently at the China University for Political Science and Law in Beijing. He earned a PhD from the Universities of Turin and Wuppertal, and another one from Padova. He has been researcher at the Husserl-Archives of the University of Cologne, at the University of Padova, JSPS-research fellow and, later, special appointed lecturer at the Hokkaido University. He published three monographs and several articles in English, Italian, and German and is the executive editor of the journal Metodo. International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy. His main research topics are: the self, individual consciousness, and self-consciousness, theory of judgment, truth-making, objectivity and perception.