Non-Anthropocentricm as a Virtue

Anthropocentrism isn’t just a faulty value system, but also a faulty way of understanding the world. Modern science has shown this, displacing human beings from the center of the universe, opening up immense vistas of space and time, telling a story of life in which chance, not destiny, has raised an unusual primate to dominance for a short time on a tiny planet in one insignificant corner of the universe. We know this, of course. But our daily experience tends to contradict it, as we walk through landscapes of artifacts which reflect back our own purposes. Our natural self-centeredness and the places we live in conspire to keep us anchored in a foolish anthropocentrism.

Traditionally, wisdom is the crown of the virtues. John Kekes defines wisdom as “a form of understanding that unites a reflective attitude and practical concern,” aiming “to understand the fundamental nature of reality and its significance for living a good life.”27 Wisdom involves knowledge of what is most important in life, but mere knowledge is not wisdom, which includes living a life in accordance with this knowledge. Conceptions of wisdom vary, yet on most accounts wisdom involves placing ourselves in proper perspective, knowing our opportunities and limits, and appreciating the larger world we inhabit.

Natural history study helps us accomplish this. It’s quotidian joys-identifying a new flower, hearing the first returning spring warbler – teach us to appreciate the commonplace. At the same time, it widens our horizons and reveals the immense diversity of life. Perhaps most important studying nature helps us see ourselves in deep, evolutionary time in a world that does not revolve around us. In all these ways naturalizing defeats anthropocentrism – a key impediment to wisdom.

Philip Cafaro, The Naturalist’s Virtues

• anthropocentrism
• empiricism
• ethics
• science
• virtue