What is the purpose/goal of this study?
The goal of this study is to shift society away from a human-centered focus and towards a worldview that favors all life.
Why is this issue significant/why do we care?
Many of the issues that we deal with in our modern society, like pollution, is because of the policies put in place. The policies that exist within the majority of the world are all based on allowing humankind to prosper, while nature suffers. The authors of this article argue that prioritizing all life will be a key factor in healing the world that we have damaged for so long.
What words/vocab do you need to know to make this make sense?
Anthropocentrism is the idea that humankind is superior to other animals and nature itself. Egocentrism is the idea that all life has inherent value despite what the species may or may not be able to provide to others. Biophilia is a deep connection between humans and nature. Intrinsic value is the worth a person or thing has despite any service they may provide.
What approach are they taking in this study?
The authors mainly examine the ethics of policies that exist in society. They explore how anthropocentric policies have caused the natural world to decay over time, while egocentric ideas have taken a backseat in the modern day. This also leads them to go into depth about the history of human-centered views in nature policies to build a case for policies that prioritize all life.
What are the results of the study?
The authors come to the conclusion that recognizing the intrinsic value of nature and its creatures is the only way to yield actual results in the fight for biodiversity conservation. They realize how human-centered values, which currently dominate many of the conservation policies, have only hurt the planet and many of its natural ecosystems. However, they understand how there are proposals for nature rights, with a study confirming over half of conservationists agreeing with these views. These new findings only further fuel the authors’ idea that the implementation of egocentric views in the place of anthropocentric views is the best plan for preserving natural ecosystems.
Does the data make sense based on your experiences?
While I did expect anthropocentric worldviews to be the driving force for issues such as pollution, I did not expect egocentrism to be as popular as the authors state it is. One survey the authors provide is that 79% of conservationists argue that nature should be conserved for its own sake. I would have thought that the idea of nature having intrinsic value would have been less popular in our society.
How is this pushing the field forward and helping society?
This article is a perfect explanation on why nature needs to be preserved. It also gives a great solution that starts with a mindset and not a full-on plan of action. The only problem is that these new policies must be implemented carefully in order to avoid completely losing focus on human needs.