MODERN ANTHROPOCENTRISM: A CONTEMPORARY, PRAGMATIC PATHWAY TO ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION

Anthropocentrism asserts that humans are the apex species, and historically, most people have subscribed to this idea, which has resulted in significant ecological degradation. It is true that human beings have been quite selfserving in their exploration and exploitation of the natural world, but it would be incorrect to draw the implication that humans shouldn't utilize natural resources for their own legitimate purposes and necessities. We do, in fact, require the assistance of nature to survive. Our problem is that we tend to blur the distinction between ethical, progressive, and humanitarian consumption and insatiable, destructive exploitation. The Judeo-Christian Bible's account of creation in the book of Genesis contains the origins of anthropocentrism. In this account, humans are created in God's image and given orders to "subdue" the earth and "have authority" over all other living things. This passage has been interpreted as supporting an instrumental view of nature, according to which the natural world only has worth if it helps humankind, and as demonstrating humanity's superiority over the natural world. This school of thought is not unique to Jewish and Christian theology; it is also present in Immanuel Kant's moral philosophy and Aristotle's Politics