Practical Philosophy Seminar: Santiago Vrech (Utrecht University)

Since the beginning of the space race, outer space science has had a paramount effect on human well-being and justice. The new space revolution, however, introduces a profound tension: the technologies enabling novel scientific advancements also facilitate non-scientific resource exploitation. The current space ethics literature has conceptualized these uses as competing duties; specifically the duties of scientific enquiry, resource extraction, and permanent settlement. Yet, the pristine conditions required for scientific discovery, together with the scarcity of space resources, render these duties mutually exclusive. The literature lacks a method for adjudicating these duties within a framework of justice. This paper addresses this gap by applying Elizabeth Anderson’s theory of democratic egalitarianism to outer space ethics. By synthesizing Anderson’s foundational remarks on philosophical methodology together with Miranda Fricker’s insights into feminist methodology, epistemic injustice, and capabilities, I develop a methodology providing a procedural mechanism for resolving cases of capability conflict. I conclude that reasons of democratic egalitarian justice necessitate the prioritization of the scientific use of space resources over commercial or settling uses. This finding offers a normative blueprint for international space governance and the design of institutions tasked with the management of celestial resources.