Whether Further Exploration of the Universe is Necessary to the Progression of Mankind.

by Joshua Fouch

This was written in 2023 as my Senior Thesis paper, based off of the scholastic way of writing in the Summa Theologica of Saint Thomas Aquinas. This is probably written better than my 11th grade paper, but please don’t judge still…

Introduction
Objections
On the Contrary
I Answer That
Definitions
Argument
Replies to Objections
Conclusion
Works Cited
Bibliography

Introduction

Imagine being able to travel across the void of space at the speed of light. Although this may seem impossible because of our lack of advanced technology, a spacecraft able to travel this fast will have the potential to come across star systems beyond our own solar system. We may even discover new planets that have the capacity to shelter life. If we advance this far in our scientific inquiries, mankind will finally be able to answer the question if there is life beyond earth. For the past six decades, corporations such as NASA have raised their eyes up to the sky to unfold the many mysteries of the black yet colorful void of space and the galaxies. They have achieved these inquiries by means of the telescope, satellite, and the rocket. With this machinery, we as the human race learned so much about the world beyond our planet. This exploration beyond earth is the prevalent science of our era just as the exploration of the new world was prevalent in the 15th century amongst scientists, philosophers, and even the Church. Without man’s determination and curiosity to explore, we would not have discovered the land we now stand on, more natural resources, or even various cures for diseases. When it comes to the study of stars and the planets however, exploration seems less important and almost unnecessary to some people. Why would it benefit us to go beyond earth’s atmosphere to explore the depths of space? God has created this planet just for us. Earth has everything to aid humanity’s survival, why must we look for more if our planet has everything we need? Does space exploration benefit humans at all? I say, further exploration of the universe is necessary for mankind and our progression. Although this opinion may be true, there are a few counter arguments that I must first put forward.

Objections

Objection 1: In the Psalms, the psalmist has proclaimed that God’s praises reach to the ends of the earth (Psalm 48:10). Now it seems that the psalmist speaks of God’s praises only reaching on earth and not beyond earth. Thus, God’s praise does not reach beyond earth but only to the ends of the earth. The progression of man must be oriented towards God because He is our sole end we must attain. It also follows that God’s praises are necessary for progression for these praises are of God. As it was already proven, God’s praise is not beyond earth. Therefore, all that is beyond earth is not necessary for the progression of mankind.

Objection 2: As we have already known from previous discovery, space contains no oxygen and is uninhabitable. All that is uninhabitable cannot benefit humans because it cannot help us at all. It then follows that space beyond our earth cannot benefit humans. Progression of mankind must necessarily benefit humans or else it would be no progress at all. Therefore, space beyond earth is unnecessary for the progression of mankind since it does not benefit humanity.

Objection 3: When man explores the natural world or even looks up to the stars, he is contemplating creation. Although everything was created by God, contemplating God’s creation does not always lead to the contemplation of God Himself because we are only pondering on the objects He has created. Now space exploration is a type of contemplation of creation and it follows that this wondering does not always lead to the contemplation of God. What is necessary for the progression of man is that which always leads to the contemplation of God since He is our final end and all things must be oriented towards Him. As it was proven, space exploration does not always lead to contemplation of the Creator but only to His creation. Therefore, space exploration is unnecessary for the progression of mankind.

On the Contrary

Solomon under divine inspiration states in Wisdom the following: “For it is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements, the beginning and end and middle of times, the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons, the cycles of the year and the constellations of the stars… for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me” (Wisdom of Solomon 7: 17-19).

I Answer That

I say that further exploration of the universe, particularly of space, is necessary for the progression of mankind for it obtains further knowledge of creation. All acquiring knowledge of creation is learning more about the Creator. All learning more about the Creator is that which is necessary for the progression of mankind. So it follows that all acquiring knowledge of creation is that which is necessary for the progression of mankind. Furthermore, all space exploration is acquiring knowledge of creation. Therefore, all space exploration is that which is necessary for the progression of mankind.

Definitions

To move forward I must define some key terms of this thesis.

The exploration of the universe or space exploration is the discovery by any means of the world beyond earth. Now it must be stated that space exploration is no different than any other type of exploration. Necessary is the quality of a thing that links a subject to a predicate such that without the predicate, the subject cannot come to be. For example, a clock can only work when it has its gears. In other words the gears are necessary for a clock. Progression is the journey of a thing to its perfection and to ultimately achieve its final end. Knowledge is a conception of the mind that comes from a formation of previous ideas through sense perception. The final end is the ultimate purpose of an object that when it is achieved, the object has no other end to achieve.

Argument

To start off, let us prove that acquiring more knowledge of creation is advancing our knowledge of God. In Matthew 7:16, Christ speaks of how one comes to know a man. We come to know a man by the fruits he bears, in other words the works he has done. The works of God are his creation which means we come to know God by his creation. God has revealed so much to us yet we know so little about Him. To come to know more about God and to contemplate Him, we ought to look at His creation.

According to Aquinas’ Summa Contra Gentiles, the final Happiness or final end of man is the contemplation of God (Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, BK. III, CH. XXXVII). Now progress was defined as the journey and perfection of the nature of man to its final end, therefore to progress mankind as a whole, we ought to gain more knowledge of creation. The faculty that makes humans so important and special is the God given gift of our rational and intellectual mind. To progress mankind as a whole, man must strengthen their rational mind. Now God has obviously created so much in His universe and the earth is certainly not the limits of His creation since our planet is miniscule compared to the observable universe. We as humanity must venture beyond earth to explore and know more about creation which might constitute interstellar travel if it is physically possible.

Before I move on, I must clarify a distinction. The progress of an individual man is not the same as the progression of mankind, in other words the progress of humanity is not the same as the progress of a specific human. Just as every Catholic makes up some part of the Body of Christ, so too each progress of an individual man makes up the progress of mankind. In this example of the Body of Christ, the tongue has a specific goal or end which is not the same as the eye’s end. Just as all body parts are meant for the Body of Christ in its own way, so too all men are meant for mankind in their own way. The progress of man consists solely of the contemplation of God. A man must raise his eyes towards God and strengthen his Catholic faith to progress to perfection.

Without the contemplation of God a man cannot become perfect on this earth and even in the afterlife, however not everyone is called to the same vocation. One may be called to virginity while the other to marriage, yet virginity is a higher calling than marriage but not necessarily a higher good. The celibate man may progress exponentially towards his final end while the married man may not, however this can go the other way around as well. It also follows that not everyone is called to explore space and discover new scientific inquiries, rather humanity as a whole is called to explore space. Not everyone must be a scientist but there must be some scientists, including astronomers, in the Body of Christ and humanity. Mankind has one goal and it consists of all fields of study because all the parts make up the whole. The journey of a singular man does not necessarily consist in individual progress of the sciences but only in the individual contemplation of God which does not contain all fields of study since everyone is called to different vocations. Now the progression of humanity must consist in all fields of study including space exploration because to be as perfect as we can on earth, humanity must know all about creation to the fullest extent as this is true progress to perfection. Therefore space exploration is not essential to an individual but it is necessary to humanity as a whole.

Since our final end is to contemplate God, the ultimate way to progress mankind is through the science of theology because theology directly studies God and the heavenly truths. The other sciences, such as astronomy and biology, come into play to help us further our knowledge of theology in order that we more completely understand God. Although the sciences are important, they are subordinate and inferior to theology. Since there will be no more Divine revelation, we must go to nature and God’s creation including space, to learn more about Him.

St. Augustine, in his commentaries on biblical passages used astronomical observations to conclude that the Genesis creation story was symbolic rather than literal. Other saints such as St. Robert Bellarmine would not believe the Galilean Heliocentric idea of our solar system until it was proven since the Bible seemed contradictory to this scientific inquiry. St. John Henry Neuman was neutral to the idea of Darwinism and the Old Earth theorem. He compared these thoughts to Catholic theology on causality and claimed the earth could have been older than 6000 years, which was the general consensus of earth’s age at Neuman’s time (Baglow). These ideas from the saints demonstrate that astronomy and scientific inquiry can further prove or give new interpretations of biblical stories and theological truths. This further proves that the sciences such as quantum mechanics, neurology, or astrophysics are subordinate to theology and aid the contemplation of God.

As Christ explains in the Gospel of Mark we must, “go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). In this case, a creature can be defined as that which has been created, namely those with a rational mind. This definition would constitute all of the rational creatures. It then follows that Christ wants us to preach to all of creation. Hypothetically, if we were to find evidence of rational life forms beyond earth, we ought to evangelize to them. Unfortunately, we do not know if there are any other life forms beyond, however, we have the means to explore and to travel farther to deep space. According to decades of research by NASA there are around 5,312 exoplanets that are known by humanity. Many of these exoplanets have the potential to foster life. One of these potential exoplanets is Kepler-452b. Kepler-452b is known to be earth’s cousin since it is in the habitable zone and is very similar in regards to size and temperature (NASA). Since science has given us more of an inclination to believe there is life out in interstellar space through the disclosure of the existence of the “cousins of earth”, we should continue to search and explore beyond earth for the sake of listening to Christ’s word and evangelizing to all of creation.

Replies to Objections

Reply to Objection 1: The psalmist, despite writing about the ends of the earth, also writes about the sun and moon. In Psalm 148, the sun, the moon, and the stars praise the Lord (Psalm 148). These celestial bodies do not reach the ends of the earth rather beyond earth’s ends. In addition, that which reaches the ends of the earth does not necessitate that it cannot go beyond. Many books of the Bible are intended to be read metaphorically rather than literally. One of these many books is the Psalms. As it has already been stated, the earth is not the limit to God’s glory and even His praises which is evident in the Psalms and also in many other books of the Bible including the Gospels. The three Magi, who were known to be astrologers, discovered the Star of Bethlehem in the skies which led them to the Incarnate Word in Bethlehem. In the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, the sun moved closer and closer to earth for some minutes which brought fear to people causing them to repent. These occurrences in space demonstrate that our Creator uses His creation, especially that which is beyond earth to further glorify and praise Him. Since these bodies glorify and praise our Lord, we must continue gaining more knowledge beyond earth for the sake of progress and contemplation of God.

Reply to Objection 2: There are many things that do not necessarily benefit humans which can shelter people or provide better living conditions. For instance, man has explored the deep seas and uncovered many mysteries down there. The deep seas are not able to shelter human life but it has benefited us with the advancement of knowledge. Progression does not necessarily lead to a better living condition rather it leads to a better understanding of the world. Learning about the stars and the trillions of celestial objects has helped humanity in a different way. Through the advancement of astronomical knowledge, we as humans are able to predict when specific celestial events will occur such as a meteor shower, a comet passing by, the next solar eclipse, or even a theoretical asteroid collision. With this knowledge, space exploration will inevitably benefit mankind. Uninhabitability is not the only factor of progression for the first and foremost factor is furthering our understanding of the Creator who is our last end.

Reply to Objection 3: Some contemplation has the potential to be detrimental to our contemplation of God but this can go vice versa as well. On the grand scale of humanity, contemplation of creation will inevitably lead to contemplation of God for as it was said, we know God by the fruits he bears. This objection goes back to the distinction between progress of the individual and progress of mankind. Many individual scientists in today’s world are clearly against religion and claim themselves agnostic which further proves that some contemplation of creation can be detrimental, however we are speaking of the progress of the individual here. No matter the religious beliefs these scientists hold, the true knowledge they gain through their study will further humanity’s understanding of God. So long as the discoveries are true, these astronomical inquiries will lead us to God since He is Truth itself.

Conclusion

Due to man’s curiosity, humans want to know more. At least once in your lifetime, you have looked into the sky and wondered. God has created this vast universe and we must explore it to learn more about Him for this is how we can progress up the stairway towards the beatific vision, the vision of Truth Himself. Everything we do must be for God and it necessarily follows that all we strive to learn is for His sake and for no other reason. Space exploration naturally raises our eyes upward and towards things greater than us just as we ought to raise our eyes to God whose presence is infinitely greater than us and His Beauty blinds us as the sun’s rays blind our eyes. The stars, the planets, and the many wonders of space always had a natural orderliness to them which reflect the order of God and his grandeurs. Let us continue to progress to perfection for the sake of our creator through the means, namely his creation, which He has so generously given to us for one day we may unite ourselves to Truth Himself for eternity.

Works Cited

Aquinas, Thomas. “Summa Contra Gentiles”. The Catholic Primer’s Reference Series, Annotated Translation by Joseph Rickaby S.J., The Catholic Primer, 2005.

Baglow, Christopher. “A Catholic History of the Fake Conflict Between Science and Religion”. Church Life Journal, University of Notre Dame, 4 May 2020, churchlifejournal.nd.edu, Accessed 1 March 2023.

NASA. “NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth”. NASA.gov, 23 July 2015, www.nasa.gov, Accessed 20 March 2023.

The Holy Bible. Revised Standard Version. Ignatious Press, 2006. Print.

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