Breaking down biocentrism: two distinct forms of moral concern for nature

Frontiers in Psychology

Joshua Rottman¹ 

关键词: environmentalism;    moral psychology;    biocentrism;    ecocentrism;    harm;    purity;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00905

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Why should deforestation be stopped? Why should greenhouse gas emissions be reduced? To answer moral queries such as these, one could point to the wellbeing of future generations and the survival of the human species. One could also appeal to the preservation of biodiversity and the intrinsic value of the natural world. These two attitudes are indeed distinct, and many scholars have therefore differentiated between “anthropocentric” (also called “homocentric” or “altruistic”) and “biocentric” (also called “ecocentric” or “biospheric”) concerns for the environment (e.g., Kahn and Friedman, 1995; Howe et al., 1996; Kahn, 1997, 2006; Schultz and Zelezny, 1998; Severson and Kahn, 2010; Hussar and Horvath, 2011; Steg and de Groot, 2012). Anthropocentric concerns for the environment are narrowly aimed at preserving the welfare of humans, while biocentric concerns are oriented toward protecting non-human organisms and nature as a whole. While anthropocentrism can sometimes lead to pro-environmental attitudes and actions, biocentrism is more reliably and robustly related to environmentalism, both for abstract values and for concrete behaviors (e.g., Gagnon Thompson and Barton, 1994; Schultz et al., 2005; Steg et al., 2005; de Groot and Steg, 2008). This makes sense, as anthropocentrism promotes the preservation of the environment as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. However, biocentrism treats environmentalism as a moral imperative independently of its impact on human flourishing.

【 授权许可】

CC BY