The concept that all living creatures are of equal importance in the grand scheme of nature is known as biocentrism (it is also termed ecocentrism – Pepper, 1984, p. 237). It is in many ways an ill-defined idea: for example, no one can say how many flies are equivalent to the grazing elk on whose back they settle in myriad clouds, and neither can that animal's worth be measured in relation to the grass it consumes. Biocentrism must therefore be conceived in negative terms, and its central tenet is that our own race, Homo sapiens sapiens, is no more significant, no more worthy of protection and nurture, than any other living species.
From the level of a simple belief, biocentrism has evolved into a philosophy, a theory, and a praxis or methodology (O'Riordan, 1981). Philosophically, it underpins deep ecology (see entry on Bioregionalism ) and thus inspires those activists who would restrict our interference in natural ecosystems. It stimulates a quest for an ecologically based morality...
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Bibliography
Lovelock, J., 1979. Gaia. New York: Oxford University Press.
O'Riordan, T. 1981. Environmentalism. London: Pion.
Pepper, D., 1984. The Roots of Modern Environmentalism. London: Croom-Helm, 246 pp.
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© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Alexander, D.E. (1999). Biocentrism, anthropocentrism, technocentrism. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_33
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