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Alien Life and Human Purpose

A Rhetorical Examination through History

Joseph Packer

Alien Life and Human Purpose: A Rhetorical Examination through History provides a rhetorical examination of the way major historical figures connect their arguments for the absence of alien life, or “unity,” to their philosophical, religious, and ethical agendas. Although the unity myth has often existed in the background of society, shaping institutions and values, during periods where relativism gained prominence, its opponents actively wielded the unity myth as a response; Plato used the unity myth against the sophists, Anglican theologian and philosopher William Whewell against the utilitarians, co-discoverer of evolution Alfred Russell Wallace against the social Darwinists, university professors Frank J. Tipler and John D. Barrow against the postmodernists, etc. These individuals presented scientific defenses of unity and then used the “fact” of unity to claim the universe is teleological, knowable, and ordered, rather than chaotic and relativistic. This book argues that unity and its complimentary mythic function have played an important role in shaping values throughout history and more importantly continue to do so today.

Lexington Books

Pages: 262 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-4985-1301-2 • Hardback • September 2015 • $136.00 • (£105.00)

978-1-4985-1302-9 • eBook • September 2015 • $129.00 • (£99.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / Rhetoric, Science / Astronomy

Alien Life and Human Purpose

A Rhetorical Examination through History

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Alien Life and Human Purpose: A Rhetorical Examination through History provides a rhetorical examination of the way major historical figures connect their arguments for the absence of alien life, or “unity,” to their philosophical, religious, and ethical agendas. Although the unity myth has often existed in the background of society, shaping institutions and values, during periods where relativism gained prominence, its opponents actively wielded the unity myth as a response; Plato used the unity myth against the sophists, Anglican theologian and philosopher William Whewell against the utilitarians, co-discoverer of evolution Alfred Russell Wallace against the social Darwinists, university professors Frank J. Tipler and John D. Barrow against the postmodernists, etc. These individuals presented scientific defenses of unity and then used the “fact” of unity to claim the universe is teleological, knowable, and ordered, rather than chaotic and relativistic. This book argues that unity and its complimentary mythic function have played an important role in shaping values throughout history and more importantly continue to do so today.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 262 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-4985-1301-2 • Hardback • September 2015 • $136.00 • (£105.00)

978-1-4985-1302-9 • eBook • September 2015 • $129.00 • (£99.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / Rhetoric, Science / Astronomy

Author

Joseph Packer is assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Dramatic Arts at Central Michigan University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter One: Plato’s Rhetorical Cosmology: The Unity of the World as Foundational Myth
Chapter Two: The Dominance of the Unity Cosmology from Plato to Galileo
Chapter Three: William Whewell and Alfred Russel Wallace: Unity Cosmology in the Modern Era
Chapter Four: Quantum Unity
Chapter Five: Unity in the Twenty-first Century
Conclusion: Humanity as the Measure vs. the Unity of the World
Bibliography

Reviews

For those curious about the debate on alien life - specifically those who have opposed the idea throughout history - I suggest reading Packer's educational book.
— The Morning Sun

This is a fascinating book on extra-terrestrials and how people have reacted to the idea. It is detailed and comprehensive. Above all, it is tremendous fun. Would that more books were like this one.
— Michael Ruse, Florida State University

If some day we discover an extraterrestrial civilization circling a distant star, will we humans lose our special place in the cosmos? Alien Life and Human Purpose goes beyond the usual scientific claims for and against life on other planets and instead examines the trepidation that some have in learning we are not alone in the universe. Joseph Packer uncovers the neglected side of this history—spanning Greek antiquity to the modern world—as he explores the deepest values of those who have argued for the uniqueness of humankind.
— Douglas Vakoch, SETI Institute

Alien Life and Human Purpose

A Rhetorical Examination through History

Joseph Packer

Alien Life and Human Purpose

A Rhetorical Examination through History

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