Biocentrism

Biocentrism is an ethical theory holding that every living being deserves moral respect and possesses value of its own, so that life itself, and not only the human being, is the central criterion of moral consideration. In contrast to anthropocentrism, which places the human being as the measure of all things, and to theocentric views, biocentrism maintains that all species have an equal right to exist, develop and express themselves with autonomy.

The term came into use in the 1970s to name a position associated with deep ecology or radical environmentalism. Its name combines the Greek roots bios (life) and kentron (centre). Its central proposal is that human activity should have the smallest possible impact on other species and on the planet. Accordingly, nature should not be subordinated to industrial growth, and industrialised countries should drastically reduce their impact on the Earth.

There are several ways of justifying the view. One holds that life has positive value in itself, within an objective theory of wellbeing. Another holds that whatever can be benefited or harmed deserves moral consideration. A third grounds it in autopoiesis, the capacity of a system to maintain and reproduce its own structure, a property possessed only by living beings. It may also be defended as a deontological duty of respect for all that lives, or within a virtue ethics in which respect for life is a trait of good character.

In contemporary debate, biocentrism is connected with environmental ethics, ecofeminism and the discussion of the moral status of animals. Critics point out that assigning equal value to all living beings can be hard to apply in real conflicts, such as those between human health and the conservation of a species. Its defenders reply that this very difficulty compels a rethinking of those priorities.