For a Post-Anthropocentric Socio-Nature Relationship in the Anthropocene

Abstract

This chapter provides a critique of the strong (arrogant) version of anthropocentrism on the account that the exclusive defense of human interests it promotes cannot secure the preservation of ecosystems on which humanity depends to thrive and survive in the context of the Anthropocene. This is why the shift to a post-anthropocentrism which takes into account the macroscopic and interrelated conditions of human life, is also desirable from a humanist standpoint. Post-anthropocentrism is grounded in the belief that human life can only endure through the protection of the whole Eco-biosphere and that humanity cannot isolate itself from the destiny of Earth community and its nonhuman subjects (as opposed to nonhuman ‘objects’). That involves seeing a meaning also in nature and considering our lives as set in a larger context than the one exclusively given by human societies. This chapter calls for an alliance between ecocentric and weak anthropocentric views, that is, between the defense of the intrinsic value of nature and the promotion of an ‘ecological ethics of use’ for the natural world. It makes a strong case for the integration of the intrinsic value of nature in political and legal governance, i.e., the introduction of Earth Jurisprudence in the judicial system. It particularly focuses on the legal, constitutional and political defense of the independent rights that could be ascribed to natural entities and especially ecosystems in order to ensure the maintenance, self-regulation and protection of Earth systems (hydrosphere, geosphere, atmosphere and biosphere), and by extension, to human and non-human life.