(a)Anthropocentrism holds that our moral duties regarding the natural world are
determined by the duties we owe one another as humans. Thus humans are considered to
be the central component of the planet. This view is rooted in the biblical injunction which
exhorts humans to subdue the earth and to rule over living creatures. 1 These
interpretations are not uniform, however and have led to much controversy. The
proponents of this view argue that the bible envisages that humans have dominion over the
natural world and that nothing else is of any intrinsic value or moral importance. This
approach allows humans to act as they please with respect to nature, provided they are
serving human nature. For example, the benefits of mining would have to be weighed
against the costs of loss of natural amenity to humans alone. The claim of the frog species
or other natural assets to continue to exist in their own right, would not come into the
picture. Their fate would only be considered in so far as their demise would impact
humans. An anthropocentric approach is implicit in the legal system, particularly in those
legal norms which underpin emerging environmental law norms. The Roman law maximsic
uutere tuo ut alienum non laedas(you may use your property in a way which will not harm
another), which is the cornerstone of the South African law of neighbours, does not suggest
that the exercise of due care is for the intrinsic benefit of the environment or any of its non
human components. Likewise the notion of intergenerational equity, which is reflected in
the reference to “ present and future generations”, in the environmental clause of the new
South African Constitution, reflects an anthropocentric philosophy laying down a claim for
yet unborn humans. An Antropocentric approach is reflected in NEMA section 2 which
provides: environmental management must place people and their needs at the forefront
of its concern and serve their physical, psychological, developmental, cultural and social
interests equitably
6 National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 section 2(2).
7 Environmental Law, Only Study Guide for LCP4805 (University of South Africa 2017) 113.
8 Glazewski A philosophical and ethical basis for environmental law 1-9.
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