Anthropocentrism places the human being at the center of everything.
Anthropocentrism is the theory of philosophy that places the human being at the center of everything . This doctrine, therefore, holds that the interests of men require more attention than all other matters.
For anthropocentrism, the human condition should be the only thing that guides judgment. By extension, the rest of the living beings and the universe in general should always be considered based on the well-being of people. Thus intellectual and moral concern for other creatures is subordinated to the needs of our species.
Anthropocentrism vs. theocentrism
It is possible to consider anthropocentrism from different perspectives. This doctrine is often understood in opposition to theocentrism , which places God as the measure of everything. In the Renaissance , anthropocentrism managed to prevail over the theocentrism that reigned in the Middle Ages .
In fact, it can be indicated that the passage from medieval culture to modernity is marked by the loss of preponderance of theocentrism and, on the other hand, by the development of anthropocentrism.
While until the 15th century God was usually taken as the origin and cause of the entire universe, from then on man began to be placed at the center. This meant a new worldview and a resounding change in the way of understanding reality.
Anthropocentrism subordinates animal life to the interests of people.
A questioned doctrine
Anthropocentrism, however, is often questioned. The belief that human interests come before the interests of other species or that only man is susceptible to moral consideration is criticized by animal rights activists.
One of the points that serve to spark controversy in this context is that we are the only animal species on this planet that seeks to dominate others simply by feeding its ego, instead of its stomach: the rest of the living beings do not They attack no one unnecessarily, but rather fulfill the task that nature has given them to maintain balance.
The link with animals according to anthropocentrism
Although from the typical arrogance of many human beings, the lives of animals lack complexity compared to ours, we should be grateful to many of them for sustaining the different ecosystems that, on the other hand, we strive to destroy in our desire to manufacture rockets, tall towers and artificial islands.
On the other hand, animalists often remind those who defend the ideas of anthropocentrism that our species does not hunt with its own nails and teeth, but resorts to the creation of artificial weapons: if we really were omnivores, as most sources indicate conventional, then we could get our own food without the help of any tools .
The extraterrestrial affair
The scope of anthropocentrism is much greater than the mere displacement of the other species on planet Earth , and this can be seen in the vast majority of classic works of fiction in which extraterrestrial beings appear. Although it is true that in almost all of them the visitors have more advanced technologies than those developed by humans, which is why they have been able to arrive from other galaxies, they rarely have an appearance in line with their supposed intellectual superiority.
The position known as intelligent design , on the other hand, postulates that living beings and the universe itself have been created by beings of higher intelligence. This is a point of view relatively opposed to anthropocentrism, and which many scientists accuse of being creationist ; Its defenders, however, maintain that it is a much more likely explanation for our existence than natural selection. As expected, neither side can offer irrefutable proof of their theories.