Thursday, August 22, 2019

The World, Anthropocentrism, Anthropomorphism

Bergson develops a post-Kantian concept of Experience as Practical, combining both Anthropocentrism and Anthropomorphism.  In the concept of Experience as Practical, an Object is fundamentally that of Use, rather than of Perception, a concept further developed by Heidegger.  So, this concept of the World as at the disposal of a Human for usage is Anthropocentric.  Furthermore, Bergson conceives a Use-Object as constituted by inert Matter.  This concept is Anthropomorphic--it derives the concept of the Object as inert from the concept of one's Body as in itself inanimate, a concept that has its Modern roots in Descartes' severing of Mind from Body in his quest for Certainty, and identifying Mind and Soul.  In other words, Bergson's concept of a Use-Object as inert is the product of an Anthropomorphic interpretation of it on the basis of the concept of the Human Body as essentially inanimate.  In contrast, for example, Anthropomorphizing the World on the basis of a concept of a Human as an Organism yields a concept of an Ecosystem.  On that basis, the concept of a Use-Object can be conditioned by an Ecological principle, e. g. when cutting down a tree for lumber can have adverse environmental consequences.  Likewise, more generally, Anthropocentrism can thus be conditioned by Anthropomorphism.

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