Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Narcissism and Anthropocentrism

Dear Pier,
as you noticed "anthropocentrism" is part of a basic human ideo-logic, as a
cog of the mechanism of a human driven logic.

I think that this vision is not merely a product of the invention of
science, but it arise from more deep reasons, it cames from the necessity to
put a reason, based not on experience but on revelation, in the centre of
our human logic. In order to justify what is not explicable or what is not
understandable, we revealed the supremacy-divinity, of the humankind that
became, after Plato, a sort of methapyisic idea, and that became with
Plotino the foundation of all the western methaphysics. And it would be th
case that Heidegger was rights with is idea that "all western methaphisic,
based on the Plotinic idea, is wrong".

My proposal is that Anthropocentrism, is a metaphysically driven concept,
not based in any experience of the Nature, but invented by man in order to
exploit love and the sense of the world.

So you're right questioning if this all imply that anthropocentrism is
fading out? Or, better, does it imply it will/can disappear? What is to
probe is if it would be possible to shift our anthropocentrism to
Eco-centrism, maybe we have to disappear in order to change experience and
reappearing in a more balanced position.

What do you think?

francesco

2010/4/23 Pier Luigi Capucci <plc@noemalab.org>

> hello,
>
> sorry Francesco, Roger and all for joining this discussion late. It is
> indeed a very intriguing topic, and, as Natasha noted, a multidimensional
> one.
>
> Indeed the idea of "anthropocentrism" as some kind of ideology which puts
> humankind at the center of the known world has been historically put in
> discussion in a long path. 2009 was both the 400 anniversary of the
> telescope's invention by Galileo and the 150 anniversary of the publication
> of Darwin's "Origin of the Species" (and the 200centenary of his birth).
> [BTW 2009 was the centenary anniversary of the Futurism avantgarde too, with
> the central position their time's technologies had in their poetics, but
> we'd go too far]
>
> With his invention Galileo gave an extraordinary push to the sky's
> observation, to the diffusion of the heliocentric system and of Copernicus'
> theories, also through the "scientific method" (which is often called
> "Galilean method"). Copernicus dethroned the humankind from his central
> position in the Universe, but, although dislocated in a remote zone the
> humankind remained the chosen creature, the first one, the highest among the
> living beings on the Earth. Darwin dethroned the humankind from his
> privileged position. Like all the living beings, humankind is the result of
> an extremely long process, of a "design without a designer". All the living
> beings, humankind included, were not created as they are and are not steady
> and unchangeable, but evolved starting about 3,8 billion years ago from a
> remote group of primeval common organisms.
>
> Hence all the living organisms are related, and each individual, whatever
> species it belongs, is unique but it is pervaded by the matter and the
> processes which compose all the other living beings. The fundamental
> processes and the control mechanisms are essentially the same in all
> species; in our genes we have the genes of many other species, even of
> viruses. And the difficulties and discussions in the science domain on the
> definition of "species" and on the methodology to set the differences among
> the species emphasize this "unitarity".
>
> It seems today the humankind is reaching another topic point in this
> relativization path, since he has the chance to use sciences and
> technologies to hugely modify some issues which deeply define the "human
> essence", which becomes basically uncertain. But does this all imply that
> anthropocentrism is fading out? Or, better, does it imply it will/can
> disappear?
>
> More after.
>
> Pier Luigi
>
> --
> Pier Luigi Capucci
> e-mail: plc@noemalab.org
> web: http://www.noemalab.org/plc/plc.html
> skype: plcapucci
>
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--
nec metuas nec optas
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