Examples Of Anthrocentrism

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2.2 Anthropocentrism: The general understanding
Philosophically, anthropocentrism may be understood in epistemological, ontological and ethical positions. In its epistemological sense, anthropocentrism is deemed as a tautology; all human values are human values including the intrinsic value that non-anthropocentrism ascribe to nature. Ontologically, it is the position which distinguishes humanity as being the center of the universe or the ends of creation. Lastly, as an ethical stance, anthropocentrism signifies the explicitly stated assertion that only human beings have intrinsic value whereas non-human entities have instrumental value, and therefore human interests should always be valued over the interests of other entities. It must be …show more content…

This chapter now examines these terms so to ensure that there is clarity in the paper. The first term is ‘anthropomorphism’ which refers to the technique of assigning uniquely human characteristics to non-human entities. An example of this is seen in different novels and animation films where certain animal characters are often given human attributes and traits. Whilst second and last term is ‘anthropogenic’ which basically means “human-caused”. For instance. climate change can be called anthropogenic when it is human-caused rather than when it is caused by natural …show more content…

This position is deemed as unique and enlightened since it claims that we ought to protect nature from too much human violation since it believes that the destruction of nature is likely to bring about serious repercussions on humankind as well. Enlightened anthropocentrism is similar to traditional (circular) anthropocentrism in such a way that they are both motivated by using nature as a resource for humans’ well-being. However, these two accounts differ when it comes to taking responsibility for their actions; traditional anthropocentrism ignores the importance of valuing the future and non-destructive human interests but only focuses on the satisfaction of immediate preferences. On the other hand, enlightened anthropocentrism takes seriously the interests of future generations and recognizes the both intangible and concrete benefits of nature world (e.g. cancer cures and spiritual enrichment) including its aesthetic value. Another significant different is enlightened anthropocentrism fully addresses the criticism and problems of traditional