Anthropocentric and Non-Anthropocentric Perspectives of Proteus Anguinus, Axolotl, Vampyroteuthis Infernalis, and their Environmental Systems

The article addresses the axolotl, the human fish, and the deep see squid, their living environments, and the relationships with man or man with these animals that live in different worlds than man, but that at the same time inhabit the same planet, where we coexist in mutual dependence. The author examines human approaches to these animals, which expand from exhibiting the fear of the unknown, of the “power of Nature,” and the theoretical admiration to the exercises of human dominance, be it in the form of hero fairy tales or biopower of regenerative medicine. The author reflects upon the question, how to conceptualize relations between entities in nonanthropocentric terms. She questions the eventual posthumanist perspective, which leads to the comprehension of the functional living and non-living systems as connected machines. While classical relationships between man and animals are based on nonequal power forces and are anthropocentric, the recognition of the environments of different species, which first marked the alienation particularly of some species from man, is at the same time the key to finally recognize the operationality of various systems, which are actually connected.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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