ABSTRACT
One of the most important debates in environmental ethics is that between proponents of anthropocentric (human-centered) and biocentric (life-centered) approaches. At one extreme, radically anthropocentric ethicists, such as John Passmore,1 hold that we have moral obligations only toward human beings, and never toward nonhuman organisms. This view is sometimes expressed by saying that nonhuman life has no intrinsic value. On this view it cannot be morally wrong for human beings to harm organisms of other species unless doing this adversely affects other human beings. At the opposite extreme, radically biocentric ethicists, such as Albert Schweitzer2 and Paul Taylor,3 extend equal moral status to all living organisms, refusing to distinguish between the respect due to human beings and that due to animals, plants and microbes. This view is sometimes expressed by saying that all living organisms have the same intrinsic value.
