ABSTRACT
This chapter situates the nonhuman world’s positioning in moral ordering. It illustrates how weak anthropocentrism benefits conceptualizing tensions between humans and nonhumans. It shows how arguments in the philosophy of mind/epistemology reveal that such tensions are misguided. Examining this view exhibits that the tensions do not exist; instead, they are “empathetic anthropomorphization.” It investigates cases involving urban growth boundaries, indicating when and how they work and backfire, supporting or harming higher-ordered groups.
