Seeing other animals as inferior is used to justify using them to human ends, working upon the

same principle as racism, such drastic disruptions of earths ecology destroy peace and harmony for
all living species.
SMITH. Animal Communication Specialist Downloaded dune 24 2003 . [Penelope,
http://animallibertv.com/animallibeitvyarticles/index.shtnil, Anthropocentrism" online] - - _

^wany humans have an at t i tude, t hat. rest rict s thni r abiTTtv t o underst and or empathize
wi th nog-human ani mal s' and ot her l ife forms and has some SerTouT consequencej s
t or fa I I j l ife on t his pl anet . It i s cal l ed ant hropocent rismTor viewing man as the cent er
or fi nal ai m of the universe. I refpr to t hi s i n mv honk. Ani mal Tal k, as the "human
superi ori ty rnmolefr" ton-si don np humans as superior, to or the pinnacl e of al l forms of
l i fe. From t he anthropocentric view, non-human beings that are most l ike human are
usual l y consi dered more intel l i gent, for exampl e, chi mpanzees who l earn to use si gn
l anguage or dol phi ns n/ho signal word or t hought comprehensi on throuqh touching
el ect ronic devi ces in t heir t anks. Ani mal s or other l i fe forms that don[t express
t hemsel ves i n human wavs bv Tanogaae or i n terms
r^mprphpnsi ble hv rj i mmnn human standards are oft en considered less developed.
i nferior, more pri mi t i ve or j nechani st i c
z
. and usual ly of less i mport ance than Tiumans.
Thi s viewpoint has been used to j ust i fy using ani mal s as obj ect s for human
_ . "Since. humans_a.re the superior creatures, "dumb. ~untee nno jinn-numanscan. be
'
fi sregarded. mi st reated^ sub]uaated. ki I Ied or whole sneci es r !imipared .wit^nut; mnr\\
concern for t hei r exi stence in i t sel f. only tneir useful ness or l ack of i t t o human ki nd.
~ " "
Many humans, as they see other ani mals are more l ike them in pat terns of behavior and
expressi on of int el l i gence, begi n t o respect t hem more and treat them wi th more regard
for t hei r ri ghts. However, t his does not transcend the t rap of anthropocent rism. To
i ncrease harmony of l ife on Earth, al l beings need to be, regarded' as wort hy of respect ,
whet neY seen as di fferent "or si mi lar t o the human species.
Thf anrhrnpnrpntt ri r view toward animals echoes t he wav in whi ch many humans
i rh
have discri minat ed again races. rel igions, or s commonl y been used to'
i nst other, humans because ^hev exesT Regarding ot hers as j usti fy domi nat ion, cruel
ess
were of di fferent culTures", i ntel l igent or subst andard has
t v or el i minat ion or t FterfT
Too often peopl e l abel what t hey don' t understand as i nferi or, dumb, or t o be avoided,
wi thout att empt ing to underst ands di fferent wav of being. More enli ght ened humans -
i ook upon meet i ng people, thi ngs or animals t hat are different than tbems-elves as
opportuni t i es to expand t heir understand!ng, share new real i t ies, and become more
whol e.
Anthropocent ri sm does not al low humans t o bridge the art i fici al gap It leaves
humans fragmented or al i enat ed frnm murh of their envi ronment di sast rous
consequences of thi s i n human aacth-!s_ergj
i t
we
creates. see the
di sastrous consequences ot thi s an t ne di sint egrat ion of healt h and harmony
forfallj i ncluding human l i fe.
ggy. ransinn