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A philosophical perspective about the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the Universe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2023

Bruno Leonardo do Nascimento-Dias*
Affiliation:
Geology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil Philosophy, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
*
Author for correspondence: Bruno Leonardo do Nascimento-Dias, E-mail: bruno.astrobio@gmail.com

Abstract

The main idea is to present the general aspects of the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the Universe from a Philosophy of Science perspective. The methodology used to develop this paper was through the intersection of favourable and unfavourable arguments from practitioners of science in the field of modern Astrobiology. The results were quite interesting and the historical crossover between the different arguments provides a great perspective on the research programme for the search for extraterrestrial life. Finally, although there is in fact no evidence that extraterrestrial life exists, the search for extraterrestrial life should not be considered as mere speculation. In the end, there are increasing indications that something extraordinary may be about to be found, whether on Mars, Europa, Enceladus or on some exoplanet.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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