Nonhuman world

The antecedents of these emotions are quite varied. They include beliefs about actions and the motivations behind them (anger, shame, pity, fear), possessions (envy, indignation, emulation, gloating, malice), and character traits (hatred, contempt). More simply, they include beliefs about what people - others or oneself - do, have, and are. In addition, some emotions (pity, fear) can be triggered by events, that is, by what happens in the nonhuman world. The actions, possessions, traits, and events may lie in the past (one is ashamed of what one has done), in the present (one is angry when struck by another), or in the future (one is afraid of something that is about to happen) or extend over time (one hates people for constant character traits). Aristotle also takes account of counterfactual beliefs When he observes that we feel shame and envy by failing to achieve what others like us have... 

The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves (synonyms inherent worth, intrinsic value, inherent value). These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes. 

Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening. 

I have come to see the revival of interest in shamanic practices as expressions of a worldwide seeking for the renewal of a spiritual relationship with the natural world. Over the past two millennia Western civilization has increasingly developed patterns of domination and exploitation based on an arrogant assumption of human superiority. This dominator pattern, which, from the point of view of Earth s ecosystems, functions like a pathogenic parasite, has involved the gradual desacralization, objectification, and exploitation of all nonhuman... 

The World Health Organization (WHO 1981) estimated that the typical human exposure level via inhalation for the general population in areas without manganese-emitting industries is <2 pg/day and that in industrial areas it could reach 4-10 pg/day. While data from animals suggest that typical human exposure levels are not of concern to either adults or infants, it must be remembered that animals (with the possible exception of nonhuman primates) do not appear to be as sensitive to manganese as humans, possibly due to pharmacokinetic differences. Thus, there is considerable uncertainty in using data from rodent models to estimate a... 

From one viewpoint, call it transformational or even evolutionary, none of this is problematic in the least. It is simple and mindless truism about evolution and its evidence, which like religion, to keep one s friends — or fellow clams — one simply cannot do without Birds arose from nonbirds and humans from nonhumans. No person who pretends to any understanding of the natural world can deny these facts any more than he or she can deny that the world is round, rotates on its axis, and revolves around the sun (Lewontin, 1981). 

Kramer, J., Moeller, E. L., Hachey, A., Mansfield, K. G., and Wachtman, L. (2009) Differential expression of GLUT2 in pancreatic islets and kidneys of new and old world nonhuman primates. Am. J. Physiol. Regul Integr. Comp. Physiol, 296, R786-R793. 

Actor-Network Theory (ANT) deals with the networks of relations which define and enable entities to present themselves in the world (Latour, 1993). It rejects the human/nonhuman distinction all phenomena possibly encountered in the world are part of networks of relations between actants. Both humans and nonhumans have agency in processes that translate interests and build or disrupt material relationships. In this way actants are defined by their existence within networks, rather than by essential properties intrinsic to themselves. The power held by any one actant is not a property inherent to them but is determined by the control or influence they have over the networks in which they are enlisted. Humans and nonhumans are intricately bound up and defined within networks of relations and the way things are experienced and the way we come to know reality is manifest from these networks of sociotechnical relations (Latour, 1987 2005). 

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