biocentric egalitarianism

biocentric egalitarianism

the equality of all living things 

richard routley

• biocentric egalitarianism 

• argued that prejudicial favouring of humans over other animals is ‘human chauvinism’ 

• rejected claim that morality can be reduced to matters of interest of humans 

• harm to any natural objects should be limited 

evaluation of richard routley

• Treating all life forms as morally equal raises practical difficulties. E.g. how should humans resolve conflicts between their needs and the interests of other species? Strict biocentric egalitarianism risks moral paralysis by failing to prioritize among competing interests. E.g. is it wrong to kill bacteria/ pests that threaten human health? 

• By asserting the equal moral worth of all life forms, Routley’s framework has been criticized for devaluing human life and achievements. Critics argue that it risks alienating people by framing humans as inherently harmful to nature. 

• biocentric egalitarianism ignores the potential of human creativity and rationality to contribute positively to ecological well-being. 

devall and sessions

• biocentric equality is that all things in the biosphere have an equal right to live and blossom to reach their own individual forms of unfolding and self-realisation 

• basic intuition is that all organisms and entities in the ecosphere, as parts of the interrelated whole, are equal in intrinsic worth 

evaluation of d+ s

• Focus on intrinsic value but do not sufficiently consider the functional roles and interdependencies within ecosystems. 

• This leads to a lack of attention to ecological dynamics, such as predation, competition, and natural resource cycles 

• Their framework romanticises nature and fails to accomodate the inherent conflicts w/in ecosystems (e.g. predators must kill prey to survive -> treating predator and prey as morally equal conflicts w the realities of ecological processes) 

taylor

• biocentric equality 

• argued for moral significance of non sentient beings since every living things is ‘pursuing its own good in its own unique way’ 

• this is the same as how we see ourselves and therefore ‘we should place the same value on their existence as we do on our own’