Some scientists think it’s quite possible we will soon find evidence of microbial life in the Solar System, if not on Mars, then maybe in the subsurface oceans of a gas giant’s icy moon, such as Europa, Enceladus, or Titan. Suppose we do find alien life nearby. Presumably, we wouldn’t or shouldn’t casually destroy it. Perhaps the same goes for possible future artificial life systems on Earth.

Now you might think that alien microbes would have only instrumental value for human beings. Few people think that Earthly microbes have intrinsic moral standing or moral considerability for their own sake. There’s no “microbe rights” movement, and virtually no one feels guilty about taking an antibiotic to fight a bacterial infection. In contrast, human beings have intrinsic moral considerability: Each one of us matters for our own sake, and not merely for the sake of others.

Dogs also matter for their own sake: They can feel pleasure and pain, and we ought not inflict pain on them unnecessarily. Arguably the same holds for all sentient organisms, including lizards, salmon, and lobsters, if they are capable of conscious suffering, as many scientists now think.

But microbes (presumably!) don’t have experiences. They aren’t conscious. They can’t genuinely suffer. Nor do they have the kinds of goals, expectations, social relationships, life plans, or rational agency that we normally associate with being a target of moral concern. If they matter, you might think, they matter only to the extent they are useful for our purposes — that is, instrumentally or derivatively, in the way that automobiles, video games, and lawns matter. They matter only because they matter to us. Where would be without our gut microbiome?

If so, then you might think that alien microbes would also matter only instrumentally. We would and should value them as a target of scientific curiosity, as proof that life can evolve in alien environments, and because by studying them we might unlock useful future technologies. But we ought not value them for their own sake.

[An artist’s conception of life on Europa] 

Now in general, I think that viewpoint is mistaken. I am increasingly drawn to the idea that everything that exists, even ordinary rocks, has intrinsic value. But even if you don’t agree with me about that, you might hesitate to think we should feel free to extinguish alien microbes if it’s in our interest. You might think that if we were to find simple alien life in the oceans of Europa, that life would merit some awe, respect, and preservation, independently of their contribution to human interests.

Environmental ethicists and deep ecologists see value in all living systems, independent of their contribution to human interests — including in life forms that aren’t themselves capable of pleasure or pain. It might seem radical to extend this view to microbes; but when the microbes are the only living forms in an entire ecosystem, as they might be an another planet in the Solar System, the idea of “microbe rights” maybe gains some appeal.

I’m not sure exactly how to argue for this perspective, other than just to invite you to reflect on the matter. Perhaps the distant planet thought experiment will help. Consider a far away planet we will never interact with. Would it be better for it to be a sterile rock or for it to have life? Or consider two possible universes, one containing only a sterile planet and one containing a planet with simple life. Which is the better universe? The planet or universe with life is, I propose, intrinsically better.

So also: The universe is better, richer, more beautiful, more awesome and amazing, if Europa has microbial life beneath its icy crust than if it does not. If we then go and destroy that life, we will have made the universe a worse place. We ought not put the Europan ecosystem at risk without compelling need.

I have been thinking about these issues recently in connection with reflections on the possible moral status of artificial life. Artificial life is life, or at least systems that important ways resemble life, created artificially by human engineers and researchers. I’m drawn to the idea that if alien microbes or alien ecosystems can have intrinsic moral considerability, independent of sentience, suffering, consciousness, or human interests, then perhaps sufficiently sophisticated artificial life systems could also. Someday artificial life researchers might create artificial ecosystems so intricate and awesome that they are the ethical equivalent of an alien ecology, right here on Earth, as worth preserving for their own sake as the microbes of Europa would be.



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