Virtue Ethics vs Ethical Egoism

Debate on Human Space Exploration on Mars

In the 21st century, life on earth became increasingly inhospitable: nuclear war between great powers had decimated the globe. Technology had advanced to the point where space exploration on Mars had become possible. The only question now was whether mankind should make that leap and take its adventures to a new planet. Mankind might be ready for space exploration on Mars, but was the universe ready for mankind?

The question of whether or not to colonize Mars had been a topic of debate for many years. Some scientists believed that it was our moral responsibility to explore and colonize other planets, while others believed that it was both too risky and too expensive. Still, some others, arguing from an ethical point of view, said that mankind was replete with all sorts of moral problems and that to permit him to colonize a new planet would be like permitting a virus to settle in and colonize a new host. Considering what mankind had done to planet Earth through nuclear war, it stood to reason in these moralists’ eyes that mankind should not be allowed to do the same to another planet. The problems of mankind had not been fixed; the hubris and tendency to inflict harm had not be removed from mankind’s nature. Humankind was a conflicted, conscious entity that had the ability to do good or evil at any given moment (Asbhy, 2021). Considering that people were prone to doing evil just as often as they might do good, what guarantees could be made that evil would not befall people on a new planet?

With the recent advances in technology, the debate has shifted from whether or not we can colonize Mars to whether or not we should. From a technical standpoint, there is no reason why we cannot establish a colony on Mars. We have the technology to build habitation modules, grow food, and recycle resources. However, there are still many unknowns about the Martian environment, and some believe that it is too risky to send people to live on a planet that we do not fully understand.

But those risks are not the real problem from an ethical perspective. The ethical debate about whether or not to colonize Mars will continue for many years to come because it is the old debate about whether human society should permit human freedom, free choice, free will, or any other sort of individual opportunity considering that human freedom opens the door for human ill will (Fischer, 2020; Zürcher et al., 2019).

What ethical perspective best answers this question and settles the debate? There is the system of virtue ethics, duty ethics, and utilitarian ethics. However, the system that led to nuclear war was Ethical Egoism, and it is still very much in play (Tilley, 2022). The group responsible for space exploration has shown that it is willing to do whatever it takes to get this mission going, no matter how many lives are lost or how much money is spent. In this group’s mind, the end will always justify the means. That is a dangerous ethical position to adopt. Should it be allowed to be sent to Mars? Congress must act now in order to prevent another possible tragedy from taking place elsewhere in the universe under man’s hand.