Should We Avoid Anthropocentrism?

             I propose to examine it from two sides: the first is epistemic and the second is practical. Epistemically: I think human beings are epistemically prior and superior to other living things. Especially in philosophical terms, our effort to understand existence in terms of being, our metaphysical thoughts, our ability to develop holistic perspectives on existence that is, roughly speaking, the development of abstract thought is one of the main differences between man and other living things. It shows that human-beings are superior and prior creatures in terms of episteme. 

While this is the case, three questions arise. 

1- Is this superiority (?) an absolute superiority? 

2- Does it cause arrogance? 

3- Does it require harming them? 

For the first question, my answer would be no. The fact that humans are in an epistemically different position does not mean that they have absolute superiority over other living things. As an example, if we were to make a comparison between living things in terms of the eye's vision, the eagle -supposedly- would be superior to other living things. But the main issue is that if we needed to build a philosophical and metaphysical structure that puts sense of sight in the center, and as a result, we put the eagle in the center, this would not make the eagle absolute superior to other living things in every aspect. In other words, when we consider phenomena and events in an epistemic framework, it is inevitable that human beings are at the center of our perspective. And this does not mean that man is absolute superior.

For the second question, it does not cause arrogance necessarily, because superior side of human-beings is only one side. However, livings things, even things, are composed of many different aspects. The eagle sees better than other creatures, or the vision-based world perception is established by putting the eagle in the center does not make it necessary for the eagle to be arrogant. We are superior than eagle in the area of abstract thinking. Therefore, arrogance should not be in human beings.

 

It is possible to give this example with a little more speculation, if one day the eagles were to establish an understanding against the universe, they would center themselves in the middle of that viewpoint. It wasn't because they were arrogant, but because they were trying to use the best mean they have, to understand the world. In other words, if eagles had developed an eagle-centered world vision, what they put in the center would not mean the eagle, but the sense of sight. The human-centered perspective of people like this reveals that the center is not human, but rather information or more precisely understanding.

May be one question arises: People looks at epistemic superiority, then they have arrogance although it does not cause arrogance necessarily.  Although it can be worth asking the question, there is something more: If people did not have epistemic superiority, would not have arrogance. I suppose, they will. The reason why, they can find a superiority to gain arrogance. All things are not same, that means everything has a lot of specialities which some of them are superior and some of them are inferior. Even if they do not accept superiority of the specialty of human-beings, they will find another one. And they will have arrogance. So, what makes people arrogant is not their superiority but something else.

For the third question, after the answers to the first and second questions are understood, there is no need to answer the third question, because it does not require harming a point of view that does not even require superiority and arrogance even while it is questionable that  the sense of arrogance and superiority necessitates harm.

In addition, also Islam keeps human-being in the center in a sense, it also keeps them equal in a sense. The basic understanding of Islam is in the creature-creator duo. In that case, God is the absolute superior one, and the all creatures are the inferior one. Since there is no difference inside creatures in terms of being created, there is no difference in terms of being superior. Human-being cannot worship the sun, the moon, the prophet and an angel. A bird, a snake cannot worship and praise the human. Praise of all creature goes to Allah. All praises belong to him. 

These means that, again, being in the center, in a sense, does not mean absolute superiority. It does not cause arrogance and giving harm necessarily. We should not avoid anthropocentrism in the sense of epistemology. We should avoid defend it in other sense such as practical, absolute superiority etc.