Steve Gillett suggests a hybrid view that combines anthropocentrism as applied to terrestrial activity with biocentrism for worlds with indigenous life. |
Paul Taylor's version of this view, which we might call biocentrism, is a deontological example. |
In the dominant U.S. worldview and value system biocentrism is counter-intuitive. The middle-class and striving to be middle-class college students I teach just don't get it. |
The resulting philosophy of biocentrism regards humans as one species among many in a given ecosystem and holds that the natural environment is intrinsically valuable independent of its ability to be exploited by humans. |
Anthropocentrism is complementary to biocentrism and allows for the understanding of sustainability. |
However, the preservationist ethic can go beyond biocentrism in that it is not life itself that always carries moral value. |