ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 65

clarify shared and unique attributes.
A central division is Ecocentrism and Anthropocentrism (Pepper 1984, Dobson 1990, Brown 1995).
An Ecocentric worldview sees ecosystems as part of an integrated environmental system with
organisms, biological communities and ecosystems creating the mantle of life surrounding the
planet. Ecocentrism is advocated by an environmental movement known as Deep Ecology (Naess
1990, Washington, 2015) and is grounded in seeking the common good of the human and non-human world (Purser & Montuori, 1995). Ecocentrics are radically egalitarian, and entities such as animals, humans, rivers, seas and lakes are all believed to have equal and intrinsic value (Washington,
2015. Naess, 1990). Ecocentrics’ claim only when this worldview is adopted will we exchange environmentally destructive policies, for more benign policies. Paradoxically in asking humankind to
take responsibility for whole of the ecosphere Ecocentrics’ express Anthropocentrism (a human
centred worldview). It is claimed the egalitarian Ecocentric world would collapse into nihilism if
no distinctions of value are made, where for example, the value of a child in a ghetto tenement
is equal to that of a family of rats (Brown, 1995). Taken to extremes, there is a view that Ecocentrism lends itself to an ideology of domination, where eco police enforce eco policy (Dobson,
1990). Therefore although reduction in mankind’s interference with the ecosphere is desirable,
it is argued that some types of Ecocentrism would involve the rejection of human rights in favour of the ecosphere. An example is the Transpersonal Ecology group who propose a cull of the
human population as a solution to population growth (Naess, 1990). Ecocentrics tend to dislike
centralised systems and materialism within social and political systems; a stance which puts them
heavily at odds with current prevailing paradigms of growth and consumption (Cook & Golton,
1994, Washington, 2015).
Anthropocentrism, is the dominant worldview, where humankind is believed to have the foremost role, only humans possess intrinsic value, are the rightful masters of ‘nature’, as well as being
the origin and source of all values (Pepper, 1984. Cook & Golton, 1994). Clearly Anthropocentrism
is a very different world view to Ecocentrism (Washington, 2015). It is asserted that to deliver sustainability sufficient to avert overwhelming levels of climate change, it is necessary “to persuade
civil society to make a break from the anthropocentric perspective where the environment affects
and benefits humans” (Salinger 2010). Within Anthropocentrism resources are extracted without
replenishment and non-reusable materials such as plastics and nuclear waste accumulate. Some
argue that Anthropocentrism is based in the positivist, objective-thinking characteristics in our
scientific, mechanistic and technological world view which emerged from the 17th century onwards (Brown, 1995. Washington 2015). Ecocentrics believe Anthropocentrism is the root cause
of the ecological crisis (Cook & Golton, 1994). However Anthropocentrics believe that mankind
can provide a technological fix to environmental problems (Washington, 2015). Another term for
Anthropocentrism is Technocentrism (Cook & Golton, 1994).
Nevertheless it is naïve to see a clear gap between Ecocentrism and Anthropocentrism / Technocentrism, as the boundaries are blurred and the issues are complex (Pepper, 1984). One issue
between an Ecocentric worldview and an Anthropocentric one is; where does the line between
fair use and abuse lie (Purser and Montuori 1996)? Or, where does economic development become
exploitative? Pearce (1993) and Pepper (1984) perceived further subgroups or categories within
Ecocentrism and Anthropocentrism. Within Anthropocentrism those on the left, known as ‘Accommodating Environmentalists’ tend to be gradual reformers believing in careful economic and
environmental management but without radical change to social economic and political structures (Cook & Golton, 1994). Those on the right, identified as ‘Cornucopian Environmentalists’, believe in unfettered economic growth and humankind’s right to use resources as they see fit. Within

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