Key concepts/ thinkers

• Animal rights are the rights of animals to live free from human exploitation and abuse
• Animal welfare refers to the physical and emotional state that is impacted by the environment in which the animal lives in
• Anthropocentrism is the viewpoint that argues that human being are the central or most significant entities in the world
• The Cornwall Alliance is a groups of Christian leaders, scientists and economists who advocate for a biblically-based understanding of environmental stewardship
• Nature conservation is the moral philosophy and aims on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats enhancing ecosystem services and protecting biological diversity
• Deep ecology is an ecocentric perspective and advocates for a more intrinsic value of nature which was developed by Arne Naess they principle include:

  1. Intrinsic value
  2. Biospheric equality
  3. Anti-Anthropocentrism
  4. Sustainable practices
  5. Self realization
• Shallow ecology is the environmental perspective that focuses on addressing specific, surface level issues within the existing social and economic framework without challenging the underlying assumptions of human-centered values and practices some key features are:

  1. Resource management
  2. Environmental conservation
  3. Regulatory Approaches
• Egalitarianism is a philosophical and social belief in the idea of equality, emphasizing the equal rights, opportunities, and treatment of all individuals, regardless of their differences. It rejects inherent hierarchies or discrimination based on characteristics such as gender, race, socioeconomic status, or other distinguishing factors.
• The Gaia hypothesis is the idea that the Earth is a self-regulating system which was proposed by James Lovelock, the key points of gaia are:

  1. Self-regulation
  2. Homeostasis
  3. Feedback mechanisms
  4. Holistic perspective
• speciesism is used to describe the discrimination or bias in favor of one species over other, usually humans. Key points about speciesism are:

  1. Discrimination
  2. Human-Centered attitudes
  3. Ethical considerations
  4. Animal rights
• Stewardship is the kind of idea that God gave humanity the task of looking over the earth
• Conservation is the idea that humanity should protect natural resources and the environment and maintain them for future generations. Christians generally encourage people to care for and protect the environment, which is what we mean by environmentalism
• Richard Bauckham argued that the opening chapters of Genesis supported the view that God gave human beings stewardship over nature
• Dominion is the idea that humans have authority and control over the world and everything in it in specific the animal kingdom which is linked to the Bible verse Genesis 1:28
• Eco-holism is an environmental movement which views all biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem as interdependent and having inherent worth