Anthropocentrism
Both Virginia Woolf’s “The Death of a Moth” and David Foster Wallace’s “Consider the Lobster” share a certain quality, which we explored in class. Both writers briefly shift from human thoughts to consider the lives of creatures generally ignored. They ask for the expansion of moral thought past our species.
Last week, while lying on the grass observing an ant cross what appeared to be, for him, an extensive green forest. For five minutes, my human concerns vanished as I considered a small consciousness with its own purpose. Wallace and Woolf’s stories performed a similar function, as they allowed us to see other species through a new lens.
Overcoming anthropocentrism is not only philosophical talk– it is overcoming a mental barrier. Human sensory tools and durations restrict us, so grasping the moth's excited energy or the lobster's possible pain is nearly impossible without deliberate concentration. The human starting point for understanding other species is not just selfish, it is also lacking in foresight.
To truly overcome anthropocentrism involves an interesting contradiction: getting past human-centrism requires powerful human skills, such as imagination, empathy, and language. Wallace asks whether lobsters feel pain in boiling pots. It is not just an ethical question, but a consciousness expansion. Woolf makes a moth’s death fight shared among all, she connects human and non-human experience.
Maybe growing past anthropocentrism won't come with denying our human view but accepting its boundaries. In those times when we actually see other species based on their terms, we view a complex arrangement of experiences as the actual reality. Each one has value, no matter how different it seems from our perspective.
I really liked your blog this week and how you took both blogs and compared it to a bigger and broader idea. Your blog took two things we talked about and stemmed it into a bigger idea. I also really liked your ending and how you brought your idea to a conclusion.
ReplyDeleteI liked your analysis of the focus that Woolf and Wallace put on understanding a species through a different lens. Humans tend to be very anthropocentric, and pieces like Woolf's are a refreshing reminder that there is a whole world outside of our little bubble.
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting term and hook. I liked your analysis and explanation of how each Woolf and Wallace use anthropomorphism in their writing and how the effects comprare and contrast.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you delved into this idea of how our existence shapes the perspective we view things from. This reminds me a lot about heliocentrism and how it put us and our planet at the center of the solar system. I also think that the discussion about the variety of perspectives needed could connect to national discussion on the purpose of DEI.
ReplyDeleteI thought the ant anecdote was interesting and thoughtful to tie into their styles. I think the seminar we had really encapsulates this idea.
ReplyDeleteI like how you discussed anthropocentrism and how this developed because we can only live life through our own perspective. This sort of explains how geocentricism developed because people could really only view the world from their perspective and to them it looked like everything was rotating around them.
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