Metalaw is “the entire sum of legal rules regulating relationships between different races in the universe.” It is a concept of

space law Space law is the body of law governing space-related activities, encompassing both international and domestic agreements, rules, and principles. Parameters of space law include space exploration, liability for damage, weapons use, rescue efforts ...

closely related to the scientific

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (usually shortened as SETI) is an expression that refers to the diverse efforts and scientific projects intended to detect extraterrestrial signals, or any evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth. ...

(

SETI Seti or SETI may refer to: Astrobiology * SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. ** SETI Institute, an astronomical research organization *** SETIcon, a former convention organized by the SETI Institute ** Berkeley SETI Research Cent ...

). The idea is an elaboration of

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

Categorical imperative The categorical imperative () is the central philosophical concept in the deontological Kantian ethics, moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Introduced in Kant's 1785 ''Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals'', it is a way of evaluating motivati ...

"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."

Andrew Haley and the origin of Metalaw

First articulated by attorney Andrew G. Haley in 1956, Metalaw was the term Haley coined to refer to his hypothesis regarding the proposed existence of fundamental legal precepts of theoretically universal application to all intelligences, both human and hypothesized intelligent

extraterrestrial life Extraterrestrial life, or alien life (colloquially, aliens), is life that originates from another world rather than on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been scientifically conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms ...

. Writer Frank G. Anderson proposed that the definition be expanded to cover all intelligent species, extraterrestrial and terrestrial - which would include any/all intelligent animal life. In 1956, Haley first published an article entitled “Space Law and Metalaw – A Synoptic View”, in which Haley first proposed what he called an “Interstellar

Golden Rule The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as one would want to be treated by them. It is sometimes called an ethics of reciprocity, meaning that one should reciprocate to others how one would like them to treat the person (not neces ...

”: Do unto others as they would have you do unto them. According to Haley, humans can project only one principle of human law onto our possible future relations with extraterrestrial intelligence: “the stark concept of absolute equity.” Haley developed his formulation of Metalaw somewhat further in various papers and a 1963 book.

Elaboration by Ernst Fasan

Significant elaboration of Haley's ideas did not take place until the publication in 1970 of ''Relations with Alien Intelligences: The Scientific Basis of Metalaw'', written by Dr.

Ernst Fasan Ernst Leo Albin Fasan (12 August 1926 – 20 July 2021) was an Austrian lawyer and a recognized authority in space law, including metalaw. Biography Fasan was born in Vienna. He grew up in Neunkirchen and attended school in Wiener Neustadt. I ...

. In ''Relations with Alien Intelligences'', Fasan proposed Metalaw is “the entire sum of legal rules regulating relationships between different races in the universe.” Metalaw is the “first and basic ‘law’ between races” providing the “ground rules” for a relationship if and when humans establish communication with or encounter an intelligent extraterrestrial race elsewhere in the universe. Fasan asserted that these rules would govern both human conduct and that of extraterrestrial races so as to avoid mutually harmful activities. In later papers published in the 1990s that more directly related Metalaw to SETI, Fasan proposed a simple 3-prong formula of metalegal principles. That formula involves: # A prohibition on damaging the other race. # The right of a race to self-defense. # The right to adequate living space.

Criticism of Metalaw

Several authors have criticized the metalegal principles proposed by Haley and Fasan for their reliance on Immanuel Kant's

Categorical Imperative The categorical imperative () is the central philosophical concept in the deontological Kantian ethics, moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Introduced in Kant's 1785 ''Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals'', it is a way of evaluating motivati ...

and on an approach to

legal science Legal science is one of the main components in civil law tradition (after Roman law, canon law, commercial law, and the legacy of the revolutionary period). Legal science is primarily the creation of German legal scholars of the middle and late n ...

and

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

known as

natural law Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...

theory. In jurisprudence, natural law theory refers generally to the view that links law to morality and proposes that just laws are immanent in nature and independent of the lawgiver, waiting to be discovered or found (as opposed to created by humans), usually by means of reason alone. Other commentators have noted that Haley's formulation of Metalaw depends heavily upon subjective or relative (and therefore inadequate) concepts of “good” and “bad.” Critics have noted that there is no guarantee that other civilizations would abide by Haley's assertions regarding equity among intelligent races in the universe. Haley's failure to acknowledge the obvious

anthropocentric Anthropocentrism ( ) is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entity on the planet. The term can be used interchangeably with humanocentrism, and some refer to the concept as human supremacy or human exceptionalism. From a ...

limits of natural law theory has led some to note that the cultural concept of rules or law is itself anthropocentric.

Metalaw in popular culture

In '' Have Space Suit — Will Travel'', a 1958 story by science fiction author

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

and published two years after Haley's 1956 paper, one of the characters mentions “space law and meta-law." G. Harry Stine (under his pen-name Lee Correy) wrote a short novel on the topic — "A Matter of Metalaw" (

DAW Books DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim, with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted ...

, October 1986).

References

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