Muddled Facts and Values
Positivism, Egoism, and Anthropocentrism in the Anthropocene
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12418385 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Francisco J Santiago‐Ávila (0000-0003-4233-9128, Carnivore Coexistence Lab, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 420-429 |
| Publication date | 2020-09-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Society and Animals (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1063-1119 • E-ISSN: 1568-5306 |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15685306-bja10020 |
| OpenAlex | W3094955353 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 11 |
I review biologist Chris D. Thomas’s book (2017) Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature is Thriving in an Age of Extinction and discuss its exposition and prescriptions. Thomas presents a fantastic exposition of the contemporary scientific literature documenting the biological gains mediated by human impacts on the nonhuman world. However, his prescriptions for a conservation ethic leave much to be desired. Thomas employs a philosophically narrow, positivist, and egoist approach to what is relevant when dealing with other sentient, sapient, and often social nonhuman beings. This culminates in an explicitly anthropocentric ethic that dismisses our moral obligations to nonhumans, both as individuals and collectives
Anthropocentrism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ethical egoism · Exposition (narrative · Positivism · Sociology · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Innovation, Sustainability, Human-Machine Systems · Philosophy
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |