THREE
THE BIOCENTRIC OUTLOOK
ON NATURE
THE BIOCENTRIC OUTLOOK
ON NATURE
1. The Biocentric Outlook and the Attitude of Respect for Nature
The attitude we think it appropriate to take toward living
things depends on how we conceive of them and of our relationship to them. What moral significance the natural
world has for us depends on the way we look at the whole
system of nature and our role in it. With regard to the attitude of respect for nature, the belief-system that renders it
intelligible and on which it depends for its justifiability is
the biocentric outlook. This outlook underlies and supports
the attitude of respect for nature in the following sense. Unless we grasp what it means to accept that belief-system and
so view the natural order from its perspective, we cannot
see the point of taking the attitude of respect. But once we
do grasp it and shape our world outlook in accordance with
it, we immediately understand how and why a person
would adopt that attitude as the only appropriate one to
have toward nature. Thus the biocentric outlook provides
the explanatory and justificatory background that makes
sense of and gives point to a person’s taking the attitude.The beliefs that form the core of the biocentric outlook are
four in number:| (a) The belief that humans are members of the Earth’s Community of Life in the same sense and on the same terms in which other living things are members of that Community. |
-99-
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental Ethics.
Contributors: Paul W. Taylor - Author.
Publisher: Princeton University Press.
Place of publication: Princeton, NJ.
Publication year: 2011.
Page number: 99.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
One moment ...
- Georgia
- Arial
- Times New Roman
- Verdana
- Courier/monospaced
Reset