Anthropocentrism: what is it, characteristics and historical development?

A summary of the characteristics of anthropocentrism as a historical and cultural phenomenon.

During the Middle Ages a doctrine known as theocentrism prevailed, which established that the entire universe had been created by a deity, but this perspective was being relegated to the background by those who followed a doctrine that had emerged at the beginning of the Modern Age, anthropocentrism.

Anthropocentrism is a philosophical doctrine that gives special prominence to the human being, placing him at the center of the universe, so that everything else is subordinated to the needs and interests of humanity.

In the following we will see what is the anthropocentrism and which are its fundamental characteristics..

What is anthropocentrism?

Anthropocentrism consists of a philosophical doctrine that places human beings at the center of interest in reality and, therefore, has an ethical and moral conception that always puts people's interests above all other issues. and, therefore, has an ethical and moral conception that always puts the interests of people above any other matter.

In this sense, other living beings are subordinated to the needs, benefits and welfare of human beings. Likewise, anthropocentrism places human beings as the point of reference and the measure of all human beings. reference point and the measure of all things in the field of epistemology..

A great proliferation of universities is attributed to this philosophical current in order to be able to teach its thought from a humanist intellectual model and, in this way, expand it.

The main characteristics of anthropocentrism.

In this section we will briefly explain some of the main characteristics of anthropocentrism as a doctrine.

Reason versus faith

From the point of view of anthropocentrism, rationality takes on special protagonism, being applied in the study of all kinds of subjects.. The objective of reason is to understand the world through an analytical perspective based on observation and study.

This anthropocentric perspective, based on reason, was opposed to the theological approaches of theocentrism.

2. Great importance of science

From the anthropocentric vision, science took on special value, so that different scientific branches emerged different scientific branches such as biology, physics, anatomy, astronomy, etc., emerged.

In addition, the increase in the number of universities allowed the expansion of the knowledge transmitted in the different scientific branches.

3. Placement of the human being at the center of the universe

As previously mentioned, under the prism of anthropocentrism, the human being is placed at the universal center, leaving aside the ideas of theocentrism that placed a God in that position..

Therefore, from the vision of anthropocentrism, the human being is conceived with the ability to transform and dominate nature, so that there is a blind trust in everything that is the result of human invention.

4. Great interest in knowledge and discovery.

As we can see, at this time there was a growing desire to learn more about the world from different perspectives. to know more about the world from different perspectives. As a result, science regained great importance, universities proliferated and the eagerness to discover new territories emerged, which gave a boost to trade relations and the economy.

5. Rejection of beliefs related to the divine or the supernatural

From the anthropocentric doctrine there is a rejection of all that a rejection of everything that cannot be studied and contrasted empirically, so that it is left to one side.Therefore, everything that belongs to a theological approach is left aside.

6. Importance to the social prestige

In the anthropocentrism much relevance is given to the power, the fame and the wealthwhich together give social prestige to the person who possesses them over those who are in a lower social rank.

7. Classicism movement

With anthropocentrism and humanism, the Greco-Roman tradition was taken up again by Ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and classical writers such as Tacitus, Ovid, Virgil and Homer, among others.

This wealth of classical authors led to an epistemological relativism, so that it was no longer considered that there was a single, universal knowledge, but now different currents of thought and knowledge were now taken into account..

The return of Greco-Roman classicism also had a great impact on art, where the theme of the Catholic religion was replaced by the Greco-Latin one, being a clear example of this, the painting of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, which is known as "The Birth of Venus".

8. Art impulse

During the period in which anthropocentrism emerged there was also an artistic explosion sustained by patronage by families and individuals with great power and wealth who were interested in collecting works of art, as is the case of the Medici family in Florence or Ludovico Sforza, who is known for being the patron of Leonardo da Vinci.

9. Different way of looking at life

Anthropocentrism has a different way of looking at life than theocentrism. Anthropocentrism conceives earthly life as a passing place where one should take advantage of every opportunity and try to enjoy every moment. to enjoy every moment as much as possible.

10. Relationship with humanism

This intellectual movement and the doctrine of anthropocentrism are based on a series of common premises, for example, considering the human being as the center of the universe, so that his actions allow him to dominate nature and build his own destiny.. Man is considered the master of his own destiny as he possesses the following fundamental qualities: reason, freedom and will.

Other common aspects are that humanism and anthropocentrism retake the classicism of the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome.

For all these reasons and other aspects they have in common, it could be said that humanism and anthropocentrism go hand in hand.

Brief history of its development

What is known as anthropocentrism has its origin at the beginning of the Modern Age (16th century).. The passage from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age also implied a change of doctrinal perspective, being prevailing in the Middle Ages that of theocentrism, which had a philosophical prism that considered a deity as the center of the whole universe; on the other hand, the emergence of anthropocentrism entailed a change of power towards the human being.

This change in doctrinal perspective, brought about by the emergence of anthropocentrism, had repercussions at different levels: moral, ethical, philosophical, social and judicial.

It is also important to note that, although the human being was considered the center of the universe, the human being was not completely left aside, religion was not completely left aside.As proof of this, it has not been abandoned to this day.

1. Renaissance

The Renaissance era marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age.. It is a cultural movement that emerged in Italy in the fifteenth century that influenced various artistic modalities such as architecture, painting and sculpture, and whose name is given for having taken up the Greco-Roman style in the works belonging to the time in which this movement took place.

By following a classical Greco-Roman theme, artists took special care in the proportions of the figures represented and gave special prominence to the representation of the human body, so it followed an anthropocentric vision.

2. Humanism

This is an intellectual movement that arose in Italy during the 14th century.It was developed in different disciplines (philosophy, theology, literature and history), and is also linked to the cultural movement of the Renaissance and the doctrine of anthropocentrism.

The strength that anthropocentrism had gained at that time, by rescuing the Greco-Roman tradition, brought with it the fact of focusing primarily on the study of the human being.

Criticism of anthropocentrism

Anthropocentrism has not been free from criticism, the main one being the fact that it The main criticism of anthropocentrism has not been free of criticism, the main one being that it considers that everything on earth is at a lower level in the hierarchy than the human being, in such a way that nature and the natural world are at the bottom of the hierarchy.The human being, so that nature and other living beings must be at his disposal.

On the contrary, those who oppose the main idea of anthropocentrism, that the human being is the center of the universe, is because they consider that human beings should not be considered above other beings, defending that all living beings should have equal rights.

There are other movements that do not agree with the fact that human beings can use environmental resources at will to obtain their own benefit, considering that they have every right to do so.

It is for this reason that In the 70s of the last century a movement known as biocentrism arosewhich considers that all living beings deserve moral respect, without considering any living being above another, considering the right to life of all beings as a primordial value.

With all this, it should be noted that not everything should be black and white, but that there are also intermediate terms in which the different movements have common aspects, whereby all of them have contributed many useful values and knowledge that endure to this day and, therefore, have facilitated that we have an incalculable cultural, scientific and biodiversity wealth.