The Ecological Citizen: Confronting human supremacy
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What is the difference between ecocentrism and biocentrism?
Ecocentrism recognises and respects the ultimate value of the Earth as a whole, including its living ecosystems, wild places, natural processes and creatures, as the matrix of life. Integral to all of those are non-organic components which are a key part of (for example) soil, water, air and so on. Ecocentrism thus explicitly acknowledges that they too are appropriate objects of ethical concern.
In contrast, biocentrism – as the word implies – puts the living elements of the Earth at the centre of concern but leaves the non-organic dimension as merely implicit or assumed. From an ecocentric point of view, that is to underestimate the latter's importance and value.
In practice, biocentrics tend to concentrate on the importance of living organisms, that is, animals of all kinds. These are included within ecocentric concern, but alongside more holistic entities such as ecosystems, places and processes.
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For further reading, see: Mosquin T and Rowe S (2004) A Manifesto for Earth. Biodiversity 5(1): 3–9.
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