Introduction
Over the past thousand years, the human species has grown to become the undeniable masters of Earth with the ability to enact the greatest amount of change in the natural environment compared to any other species on the planet. It is this very predominance that has brought about the psychological concept of Humanocentric speciesism as a widely accepted fact rather than a theoretical concept that has greatly influenced the course of human history and the way man thinks of himself. Humanocentric speciesism is based on two distinct concepts the first being Humanocentrism which is described as a tendency for human beings to view the natural environment and other species from the standpoint of a distinctly human majority. Its premise is that anything that is outside the concept of being human is immediately classified as non-human or in extreme cases “alien”. Speciesism on the other hand is based on the belief that the species a particular individual or group belongs to is inherently superior to all other species (Singer 567). One notable historical example of such a belief was the concept of the Ăśbermensch developed by the German philosopher Nietzche in 1883 and taken to its extremes by the Nazi regime. This particular brand of speciesism consisted of considering all other races inferior to Germans as the Ăśbermensch or master race of humanity, a philosophy that helped to contribute to genocide of the Jewish population in Europe. Based on their individual definitions the combined concept of Humanocentric speciesism can thus be described as a belief by humans that they are inherently superior to all other species on the planet since everything else is “non-human” or “alien”. When examining the various works given to be used in this analysis (I.Robot, Bladerunner, Metropolis, A.I., etc) one common theme arises where the encounters between humans and machines are cautionary, subject to uneasy balances, unstable relationships, and in extreme cases outright vehemence, mistrust and violence of humans against machines. In such cases, humans do not acknowledge their creations as equals despite them being, in a way, superior. This brings up the question as to why humans reject the supposed “rights” of an intelligent life form to be considered as being on the same level as human beings.
The Humanocentric Speciesism view
The best way to answer such a question is to frame the concept of Humanocentric speciesism against the backdrop of the cases provided. Throughout history the concept of human superiority has been an important concept by which humanity defined itself and thus justified its actions, it can be seen in religion which takes the form of religious theology teaching the superiority of man over animals, his ordained destiny to control the Earth and to a lesser degree, it can also be seen in national culture taking the form of nationalism. In fact the humanocentric view of humanity has evolved over the years into present-day racism wherein anyone not part of a particular group’s race was considered a “non-entity” or someone from “outside” the defined norms of the group (Brennan 274). In the movie A.I. by Steven Spielberg we are presented with a situation where robots are developed to look and act more human so as to better integrate themselves into society yet despite their outward appearance and subservient personalities they are still treated with a far lower level of respect and even violence by the human population.
One notable quote from the movie embodies the humanocentric view against robots: “it is not just a question of being able to create a robot that can love a human; the real problem exists in getting a human to actually love them back”. Robots, machines, and various other creations are considered by the characters in the various examples to be “non-human entities” creations outside the human condition and as such inferior to actual humans. Despite the character David in A.I. being inherently superior to a normal human child Monica still chooses to abandon him due to her need to resolve the internal conflict between loving her actual human child and her love for David who is artificial. The reasoning behind this lies with the fact that the Humanocentric speciesism view only takes into account human superiority but does not consider anything else (except God, deities, angels, basically anything not of this Earth) as being superior to humankind. Thus despite any apparent feelings of love, respect, or pity directed at robots or other creations humans will still think of themselves or other humans as superior. The works of Isaac Asimov in I. Robot exemplifies this view with some characters actually having some measure of respect for robots however the stories always seem to go back to the inherent feeling of superiority humans have over their creations which is a background conflict mentioned in many of the stories.
Understanding the Human Superiority Complex
Humanity has created for itself the generalized concept that only humans are the predominant species on this planet and only we should be superior. Anything else that is a direct affront to this, despite having a similar appearance to us, is met with a largely negative response due to the concept of human supremacy on Earth deeply ingraining itself into the human subconscious (Brooks 290). For example, it is actually a generally accepted notion that if humanity were to meet any aliens in the future they would be technologically or even culturally superior to us (Morgan 1). Concepts such as God, angels, demons, celestial entities, basically anything not of this Earth or not originating from Earth is considered to be superior or possibly superior while anything on Earth or originating from Earth is considered inferior. In the movie Bladerunner despite the replicants bearing the exact same features as humans, they are still considered inferior, in fact, the movie goes so far as to state that despite the similarity they are inherently different due to their susceptibility to be differentiated from humans using the Voight- Kampff test. The various works of Isaac Asimov in I Robot point to the ability of robots to be equal to or surpass humans yet are held back by human prejudice and the need to ensure superiority over their robot creations. All the examples given show some measure of inherent superiority of human creations over normal humans however they are never acknowledged as such or even given equal treatment. The role given to robots or manmade artificial lifeforms in all the examples is similar to that of a slave in that despite having the capacity to be equal one is subservient due to the enforced will of the other. The concept of Humanocentric speciesism allows for anything not of this Earth as being considered potentially superior however anything that results from Earth such as humanity’s own creations are considered inferior. It is due to this that the humans in the examples provided will not or even cannot consider machines as their equal going so far as to deny their right to equality on the basis of the humanocentric speciesism view.
Works Cited
Brennan, Andrew. “Humanism, Racism and Speciesism.” Worldviews: Environment Culture Religion 7.3 (2003): 274-302. EBSCO.
Brooks, David. “Superiority Complex.” Atlantic Monthly (10727825) 290.4 (2002): 32. EBSCO.
Morgan, Gwendolyn. “The War of the Worlds.” Masterplots II: Juvenile and Young Adult Fiction Series (1991): 1-2. EBSCO.
Singer, Peter. “Speciesism and Moral Status.” Metaphilosophy 40.3/4 (2009): 567-581. EBSCO.