Abstract
Religion and science are often set up as polar opposites in Western philosophical and religious discourse and seen as representing different epistemological perspectives that juxtapose rationality with faith. Space exploration is largely viewed as a scientific and engineering problem and, thus, has tended to set aside the issue of religion as it relates to human movement off-planet. However, as we have moved increasingly toward the idea of colonization of the Moon and Mars, social scientists and philosophers have increasingly come to recognize that human movement into space also needs to be understood as a social phenomenon. As a social phenomenon, there is an inherent necessity to consider how religion may play a role in or influence the process of human exploration and settlement of space. However, what do we mean when we say “religion?” One of the fundamental problems of thinking about the relationship between religion, science, and space exploration is that the meaning of the word religion is rarely well-defined. Do we mean faith-based religions such as Christianity or Islam? Or do we mean practice-based religions such as Shinto and some forms of Buddhism? This paper will explore the question of religion and science from the perspective of Japanese religions as a way of problematizing the manner in which we think about and define religion as it relates to the practice of space exploration.
Highlights
Religion and science are often set up as polar opposites in Western philosophical and religious discourse and seen as representing different epistemological perspectives that juxtapose rationality with faith
Several astronauts have flown on American spacecraft who did not identify with Abrahamic traditions: Ellison Onizuka (Buddhism) and Kalpana Chawla (Hinduism) are examples of two, but there have been others, including individuals who identify as atheist (McGraw and Formicola 2005)
As a social phenomenon, there is an inherent necessity to consider the question of how religion may play a role in or influence the process of human exploration and settlement of space. To consider this question of how religion and space exploration may intersect necessarily raises a more fundamental question: What do we mean when we use the term religion? One of the central problems of thinking about the relationship between religion, science, and space exploration is that the meaning of the word religion is rarely well-defined
Summary
Several astronauts have flown on American spacecraft who did not identify with Abrahamic traditions: Ellison Onizuka (Buddhism) and Kalpana Chawla (Hinduism) are examples of two, but there have been others, including individuals who identify as atheist (McGraw and Formicola 2005). The extent to which these perspectives may inform both ideas about space travel and interpretations of the experience of being in space, has not been well-developed from a scholarly perspective This may be a result of the fact that space exploration is largely viewed within organizations such as NASA or JAXA (the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) as a scientific/engineering or systems problem within which the bodies of astronauts are integrated components to be understood and managed (Olson 2018). Japanese religions do not demand expression of belief in, nor internal commitment, to the power and existence of a deity (Reader 1991; Reader and Tanabe 1998) This is unlike much of Christianity, in which it would be strange ( certainly not impossible) to claim, say, adherence to the Presbyterian faith while not believing in the existence of a god. As Evans and Evans note, from a historical perspective, the notion of science and religion inevitably being in conflict is not an accurate representation of the discourse until fairly recently, but the narrative of religion and science in conflict over truth claims is so deeply entwined with contemporary Western intellectual discourse that it is difficult to identify perspectives outside of this viewpoint from which we can consider how religion and science are, or are not, in conflict (Evans and Evans 2008)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
