What is Life? On Earth and Beyond
On Earth and Beyond

Approaches from the sciences, philosophy and theology, including the emerging field of astrobiology, can provide fresh perspectives to the age-old question 'what is life?'. Has the secret of life been unveiled and is it nothing more than physical chemistry? Modern philosophers will ask if we can even define life at all, as we still don't know much about its origins here on Earth. Others regard life as something that cannot simply be reduced to just physics and chemistry, while biologists emphasize the historical component intrinsic to life on Earth. How can theology constructively interpret scientific findings? Can it contribute constructively to scientific discussions? Written for a broad interdisciplinary audience, this probing volume discusses life, intelligence and more against the background of contemporary biology and the wider contexts of astrobiology and cosmology. It also considers the challenging implications for science and theology if extraterrestrial life is discovered in the future.

Introduction Andreas Losch; 1. Reflections on origins, life, and the origins of life Marie-Christine Maurel; 2. The search for another Earth-like planet and life elsewhere Joshua Krissansen-Totton and David C. Catling; 3. The shape of life: morphological signatures of ancient microbial life in rocks Beda A. Hofmann; 4. Precellular evolution and the origin of life: some notes on reductionism, complexity and historical contingency Antonio Lazcano; 5. Science and philosophy faced with the question of life in the twenty-first century Michel Morange; 6. What is life? And why is the question still open? Claus Beisbart; 7. Is the origin of life a fluke? Why the chance hypothesis should not be dismissed too quickly Christian Weidemann; 8. Some contemporary – and persistent – fallacies and confusions about astrobiology Milan M. Ćirković; 9. Superintelligent AI and the postbiological cosmos approach Susan Schneider; 10. What theology can contribute to the question 'what is life?' Andreas Losch; 11. Autopoietic systems and the theology of creation: on the nature of life Alexander Maßmann; 12. Where there's life there's intelligence Ted Peters; 13. Life in the universe, incarnation and salvation Juan Pablo Marrufo del Torro, SJ; 14. Talking lions, intelligent aliens and knowing God – some epistemological reflections on a speculative issue Taede A. Smedes; 15. What is life? On Earth and beyond: conclusion Andreas Losch; 16. A skeptical afterword Antonio Lazcano.

Andreas Losch is an award-winning theologian, specialising in the dialog between the sciences, philosophy and theology, and he is currently coordinating the project 'Life beyond our planet?' at the Center for Space and Habitability, Universität Bern, Switzerland. Losch is a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, New Jersey and he serves in the councils of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology and in the Karl Heim Society. He is also editor-in-chief of a German forum for dialog between the sciences and theology.