Anthropocentrism, Christianity and the Origins of the Ecological Crisis Part I. What Does It Mean (not) to Be an Anthropocentric?

Abstract

Anthropocentrism is a concept widely used in environmental and animal ethics. It is most often interpreted there as a type of vicious discrimination of non-
human forms of life, identified with speciesism and human chauvinism. Chris­tianity is often recognized as the historical root of anthropocentrism in Western culture, and therefore it is found responsible for the ecological crisis and the op­pression of animals in the West. The aim of this article is to criticize this under­standing of anthropocentrism and propose its alternative interpretation free from the burden of radical-left, egalitarian ideology, giving a more complex and cor­rect image of the notion. It is proved that anthropocentrism is not reduced to rep­rehensible discrimination, as it indicates an inevitable feature of our thinking. Accordingly, the development of an optimal system of ethics friendly to the en­vironment and other forms of life implies a rejection not of anthropocentrism, but of human chauvinism: they are not reducible to each other. Meaning the in­nate cognitive perspective inherent in humans, anthropocentrism is fundamen­tally independent of Christian or other religion. Its erroneous association with Christianity has arisen as a result of the non-distinguishing of cultural forms in which anthropocentrism manifested itself in the spiritual history of the West.