“Is the relationship between humans and the rest of the nature hierarchical and are humans, being superior to the rest of the nature, thus morally permitted to use nature in any way they see fit?”
Throughout the history, humanity had seen itself as the center of everything. It was widely believed that humans were created by the God and in the image of the God. Anything around us is created by the God to serve the humans’ needs. According to this view, humans had a special place in the environment, they were superior to the nature because the nature was explicitly created for their use. Below diagram depicts this view by showing a human male on top of the ecosystem pyramid.
Not only did they see themselves in a special place in this planet, but also they believed that the earth, being inhabited by humans, was the center of the universe thus was a special planet, too. This school of thought led the development of anthropocentric or human-centered world view.
Under the principles of the anthropocentric (human-centered) world view, humans are thought to be masters of the rest of the nature thus the nature is only a resource for the well-being of the human race. Since the nature is only a resource, humans are allowed to use the nature in any ways they want without taking any considerations for the nature itself. I believe that today’s widely accepted environmental movements such as conservationism and the movements toward achieving a sustainable society are also products of the anthropocentric world view. Although, these movements do concern about the well-being of the nature and they support the idea that the nature is valuable, they still perceive the nature in human terms, that is, they believe that the nature should be protected to serve the humans better in terms of using it for sustaining human life, providing for future generations to come, recreation, appreciation and enjoyment.
Historically, some counter ideologies have been established against the anthropocentric world view also. Some scientific findings, such as Newton's geocentric discoveries and Darwin's theory of evolution, have been used to support these counter ideas. Even though, these ideologies establish good views in terms of defining the nature as an entity with an intrinsic value, they are still far from being practical in the current way of thinking. We have to devise new ways and change our way of thinking to find our righteous place in the ecosystem: not on top, just a part.
Vedat YOZKAT
