How the Human Exceptionalism Paradigm Will Ultimately Lead to Our Demise

From Environment & Resources 2020

ABSTRACT

Anthropocentrism, otherwise known as human exceptionalism, is a term that’s been tossed around in recent decades. It is the belief that human beings are the most important entities in the world and come before other organisms and the environment. Over the past few centuries, humans have come to control almost every aspect of the earth and other animal species. The period of which humans have been the dominant influencers on the environment and climate is known as the Anthropocene geological age. We regularly exploit animals and the environment for our own benefits with little regard for the effects of our actions. Human development is primarily responsible for a decline in animal species numbers and environmental health. Some big problems include mass species extinction, pollution, depletion of resources, ecosystem destruction, huge amounts of animal suffering in the agricultural industry and much more. Humans have been the main contributors to all these issues. It is important to note that any act of further harm or destruction toward other animals or the planet that isn’t counteracted is a display of human exceptionalism because we are placing our needs or desires above theirs and hurting the two in the process.

INTRODUCTION

There are two major opposing opinions on human exceptionalism. Some believe humans are superior because we have “the soul, reason, the passions and the interests, consciousness, morality, society, culture, language, knowledge, representation,” which is true; there are no denying these facts (Pickering 2008, pg. 2). In contrast, others believe that humans are “simply another branch in the animal kingdom that should be afforded no more or less value than other animals” (Henriques 2013, par. 6). However, the argument is over whether human life is more worthy than animals and if we should be allowed to control them and the environment. Animals have the same right to live and be free as humans do and the environment deserves to be protected from human violation. After all, animals “have wide-ranging cognitive, emotional, and moral capacities,” however, they display these abilities in different ways (Bekoff 2011, par. 1). Humans even share the same areas of the brain as other organisms such as mammals and vertebrates that are responsible for consciousness and processing emotions (Bekoff 2011, par. 3). The consequences of this idea of human superiority has indisputably negatively impacted both the earth and animals. There are ramifications for possessing these viewpoints and acting on them, including “social, political, and environmental implications” (Bekofff 2011, par. 4). These are the two opposing viewpoints on the issue at hand, with the majority of people weighing somewhere in the middle of the scale. What we don’t realize is that the mindset of believing humans are worth more than other types of beings or the environment and that both are to the disposal of our use will ultimately be the end of human life, therefore it is imperative that we begin paying respect to where it’s due and treating animals and the environment as equally deserving of a quality life and existence.

There are a number of sociological theories that describe the relationship between humans, the environment, and animals. The first being the Human Exceptionalism Paradigm (HEP) first coined by Riley Dunlap. HEP can be described as “a complex of presuppositions and beliefs that treat culture as if it were independent from the finite ‘web of nature’ and our unique capacity for intelligent, creative mediation of natural environments” (Dunlap & Brulle 2015, pg. 336). This is to say that humans are not limited by nature or in terms of population growth; that using intellectual thought, we can work out of obstacles facing humans. Another term created by Dunlap and Van Liere is called the New Ecological Paradigm which is a belief that nature is “to exist for human use and greater value is placed on economic prosperity, abundance, and individualism than on the environment” (Harrison 2020, pg. 1). Again, this idea is a negative perspective on the environment, resources, and nature that some people believe are at the expense of human consumption and destruction. Another similar theory called Cartesian dualism which was created by René Descartes, states there are two types of things in the world, “brute matter which behaves in a machine-like fashion, and human souls which don’t” (Pickering 2008, p. 1). In other words, Descartes has developed a theory for why humans are special in terms of we have a supposed soul that we possess with all the qualities that come along with it. Finally, one last theory called the ecological modernization theory states that the capitalist industrial growth of society is possible and ecological destruction can be avoided if we use nature in economics through technological changes and marketing strategies (Foster 2012, pg. 212). Another theory that allows for the domination of the world in which we live.

It is no secret that since the progressive era, humans have had devastating effects on wildlife species and the health of the planet, many already irreversible. We’ve really stretched the limit of planet earth. The human population has grown exponentially fast, taking over every nook and cranny the earth has left to offer and stealing already depleted resources, land for wildlife, and natural ecosystems. Even in 2019, a shocking 16% of US Americans believe that global warming isn’t occurring, and another 17% was unsure, and a staggering 33% of Americans don’t believe it’s due to human activities (Marlon et. al. 2019) Expectantly, 64% of Americans never discuss global warming.

LITERATURE REVIEW

There have been dozens of studies highlighting the negative implications humans have had on the planet and other animal species. Some issues are clearly concerning animal and wildlife ethics such as animal agriculture. Most are focused on the impacts we have on the environment as a whole including deforestation, CO2 emissions, and climate change. Others examine the intertwining of both problems such as habitat loss, overfishing and loss of natural coral reefs, or harmful technological farming practices including dangerous and inhumane living conditions for the animals or pesticide and fertilizer usage.

Of course, using animals to entertain humans such as in zoos, circuses, or pet shops is wrong, as well as animal testing to develop products for human usage, but more specifically the animal agricultural industry is the cruelest form of animal exploitation for human benefit. Not only do we not need to consume meat at all, or at least much less than we currently do, but we choose to do so in horrific ways. The dairy industry is full of suffering and cruelty as well, not just meat. The animal and crop agriculture industry is characterized as having unnatural feeds, hormones, antibiotics, GMOs, pesticides, and more which puts people at risk of obesity, cancer, asthma, drug-resistant bacteria, zoonotic diseases, and many more dangers of hazardous, inhumane practices (Factory Farming and Human Health, par. 1). Subsequently we destroy the health of the soil, lakes, rivers, and ecosystems.

It is evident in recent research that bees and pollinators are essential for the survival of people since “an estimated 35 percent of the world’s food is dependent on animal pollinators” (Shockman 2015, par. 2). Foods like nuts, vegetables, fruit, and honey are all at risk of dying out if there aren’t enough pollinators. Along with pollinators, healthy ecosystems and a proper balance of biotic and abiotic things in any given ecosystem for it to function properly. Humans regularly disturb the peace of natural forests, lands, and biomes of the homes of millions of species, throwing off the stable ecosystem that was in place. It is important to realize that “all the members of the system are interconnected, so the loss or change of one factor can have large effects rippling through the entire ecosystem” (Motivans 2020, par. 1). Ecosystems are necessary for human survival for filtering the air we breathe, the water we drink, maintaining a stable climate and things like trees from forests, or fish from the ocean for example (Motivans 2020, par. 8). Humans have also caused another mass extinction, where for the past 65 million years, the rate of species extinction has been about one species per million per year, but since the age of humans, has risen to about 1000 species per million per year, continuing to rise (Raven 2002, pg. 1).

Big business polluters have been the cause of a large amount of environmental decline. Certain officials and politicians have advocated for taking advantage of the environment and animals in agriculture at their expense for the advancement of humans and economic growth. Large plastic waste companies like Nestle, PepsiCo, Coke, and ConAgra, one of the most expansive packaged food companies, really take a toll on the environment and habitat ecosystems for wildlife to make big bucks, having little care for the impact of their actions unless it’s for their reputation (Chow 2018; Yarow 2009). Electricity and energy companies all around the world are huge general polluters of the earth, causing declines in air quality, depletion of the ozone layer, and several more adverse effects (Yarow 2009). Industries like coal, oil, pesticide, automobile, dairy, and meat are overall very unethical environmentally and toward animals (Merchants of Doubt 2014). They find sneaky alternatives to cleaning up their act by recruiting lobbyists to perform their dirty communicative work, construing, hiding, or falsifying data, or scapegoating to promote big business while letting the earth and wildlife suffer in the process.

These are just some studies that highlight how the activities stemming from the belief in human exceptionalism has adversely affected not only the environment and other species, but the wellbeing of the human race as well. Generally, research on human exceptionalism in the past has focused on the belief in superiority over animals, while in this paper, the environment and animals are combined since they go hand in hand.

METHODS

The methods used for this research paper are primarily qualitative info and analyses. Studies explaining how human intervention on the environment and other species have consequently caused several health concerns for the human population as a whole. Most of the studies and data were collected from Google Scholar, UTK OneSearch, and key-word google searches. In-class notes from Environment and Resources have been used to build a basic understanding of current problems relating to human exceptionalism and to define and explain a few sociological theories for this research. The introduction is designed to give an overview of the state of the problem, the debate over human exceptionalism, and people’s opinions on the condition of the environment. Meanwhile, the literature review is intended to provide various examples and specific fields where the issue of human exceptionalism, exploitation, and destruction is a massive issue for the victims involved and negatively impacts human health.

ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION

The research conducted in this paper has supported the idea that human exceptionalism is not a positive belief among human thought, and rather, slows the progress and growth of humans. Some majorly affected areas of this troubling belief include agriculture, habitat and ecosystem loss, pollution and large polluters, and overall environmental degradation solely for the purpose of human use.

Limitations include not having the space resources necessary to add a longer list of side effects of human exceptionalism, only a small glimpse at the sociological, environmental and ecological impacts. An additional limitation to this research paper is an absence of information on people’s opinions of human exceptionalism, and whether they believe it is a real issue, and the impacts for this mindset.

CONCLUSION

If research proves that sound ecological health, environmentally and in terms of ecosystems, wildlife, and agriculture animals, is vital to the success of humans presently and in the future, then we should do our best to preserve the planet and other organisms around us. The data supporting these concepts is overwhelmingly convincing, therefore people need to be more conscious of ethical practices, affects of human activities, and ways to counterbalance these effects. Human exceptionalism is an idea that is not only harmful to the world in which we live in and the fragile ecosystems that land and animals create together which supports us and allows us to continue to live, but it is undeniably harmful for human existence as well. Human exceptionalism ultimately causes degradation among our natural world and the billions of species living within it, which results in harming the health of humans.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Anon. “Factory Farming and Human Health.” Farmsanctuary. Retrieved 21 April, 2020. (https://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/factory-farming-and-human-health/).

2. Bekoff, Marc. 2011. “Animal Minds and the Foible of Human Exceptionalism.” Psychology Today. (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/201107/animal-minds-and-the-foible-human-exceptionalism).

3. Chow, Lorraine. 2018. “10 Worst Plastic Polluting Companies Found by Global Cleanups.” EcoWatch. (https://www.ecowatch.com/worst-plastic-polluting-companies-2611144880.html).

4. Dunlap, Riley E., Brulle, Robert J. 2015. “The Climate Change Divide in Social Theory.” Pp. 333 – 364 in Climate Change and Society: Sociological Perspectives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Retrieved April 21, 2020. (https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kjlKCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA333&dq=human+exemptionalism+climate+change&ots=BXwk_WNRoI&sig=5FniBs5ShJSzMrLse2QXg0XRVsY#v=onepage&q&f=false).

5. Foster, John B. 2012. “The Planetary Rift and the New Human Exemptionalism: A Political-Economic Critique of Ecological Modernization Theory.” SAGE volume 25(issue 3). Retrieved April 21, 2020. (https://journals-sagepub-com.proxy.lib.utk.edu/doi/pdf/10.1177/1086026612459964).

6. Haraway, Donna. 2015. “Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthulucene: Making Kin.” Environmental Humanities volume 6(issue 1). Retrieved April 21, 2020. (https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-3615934).

7. Harrison, George M. 2020. “Validity evidence against the children’s New Ecological Paradigm Scale.” Routledge volume 51(issue 1). Retrieved April 21, 2020. (https://www-tandfonline.com.proxy.lib.utk.edu/doi/pdf/10.1080/00958964.2019.1646202?needAccess=true&).

8. Henriques, Gregg. 2013. “On Human Exceptionalism.” Psychology Today. Retrieved April 20, 2020. (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theory-knowledge/201301/human-exceptionalism).

9. Marlon, Jennifer, Howe, Peter, Mildenberger, Matto, Leiserowitz, Anthony, Wang, Xinran. 2019. “Yale Climate Opinion Maps 2019.” Climate Change Communication. Retrieved April 21, 2020. (https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us/).

10. Pickering, Andrew. 2008. “Against Human Exceptionalism.” Retrieved April 20, 2020. (https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10036/18873/XTRwrkshp-250108.pdf?sequence=1).

11. Raven, Peter H. 2002. “Science, Sustainability, and the Human Prospect.” Science volume 297 (issue 5583). Retrieved April 21, 2020. (file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/Science,_sustainability,_and_t.pdf).

12. Shockman, Elizabeth. 2015. “Why dying bees may cause a public health problem.” PRI. Retrieved April 21, 2020. (https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-08-06/why-dying-bees-may-cause-public-health-problem).

13. Yarow, Jay. 2009. “The 15 Worst Companies for The Planet.” Business Insider. Retrieved April 21, 2020. (https://www.businessinsider.com/the-15-worst-companies-for-the-environment-2009-9).