Disentangling Atmosphere and Sky: Ontology, Space Debris, and Moral Mattering
Presentation Type
None
In Person or Zoom Presentation
In-Person
Location
Student Union Event Center
Start Date
17-11-2025 4:55 PM
End Date
17-11-2025 5:15 PM
Presentation Description/Abstract
Space exploration activities generate novel problems for philosophical consideration. As space activities increasingly populate Earth’s orbital environment with both operating space infrastructure and junk, humanity is faced with new threats. One significant worry is Kessler syndrome, a potential cascade of space debris that could trap humans on Earth while destroying satellite infrastructure. Approaching the growing problem of space debris from the perspective of environmental philosophy reveals a host of additional concerns within environmental ethics, aesthetics, and politics. Adequately considering the effects of increasing space debris, as well as the particular environmental ramifications of such accumulation, requires (re)consideration of ordinarily backgrounded environmental objects – the sky and the atmosphere – for the application and extension of environmental ethics to humanity’s activities in outer space.
Disentangling Atmosphere and Sky: Ontology, Space Debris, and Moral Mattering
Student Union Event Center
Space exploration activities generate novel problems for philosophical consideration. As space activities increasingly populate Earth’s orbital environment with both operating space infrastructure and junk, humanity is faced with new threats. One significant worry is Kessler syndrome, a potential cascade of space debris that could trap humans on Earth while destroying satellite infrastructure. Approaching the growing problem of space debris from the perspective of environmental philosophy reveals a host of additional concerns within environmental ethics, aesthetics, and politics. Adequately considering the effects of increasing space debris, as well as the particular environmental ramifications of such accumulation, requires (re)consideration of ordinarily backgrounded environmental objects – the sky and the atmosphere – for the application and extension of environmental ethics to humanity’s activities in outer space.