Human Rights: An Earth-based Ethics

There exists the misconception that rejecting strong anthropocentrism or human-centeredness equates with denying or rejecting the special nature of human-human relationship. Drawing attention to and calling for care towards nonhumans does not disadvantage humans. An ecocentric ethics promotes an ethics of care that is inclusive of all life, human and nonhuman, whereby the kinship and welfare of humans are neither diminished nor neglected. All life benefits from an ecocentric approach. An ecophilosophical perspective needs to be a foundational element for the theory and practice of human rights. Although I will be discussing human rights specifically, we should keep in mind that the ecophilosophical basis to human rights that will be introduced advocates for the rights of all life, not only human life. Indeed, the subject of nonhuman rights will be understood as integral to human rights, and a necessary consideration within any honest effort to understand and help resolve situations characterized by extreme violations of human rights, in particular military conflict and terrorism.