Word: speciesism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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The pig-tailed bandicoot is noteworthy because it encapsulates the contradictions conservationists face when they rail against the extinction of plants and animals. I drew the bandicoot example from the new book titled The Future of Life by Pellegrino University Research Professor E. O. Wilson, who spoke at ARCO Forum...
Certainly, some species of plants found only in remote rainforests could be the source of potent human drugs. Some animals are necessary to keep pests from eating away farmers’ fields. But vast numbers of species are unlikely to be useful to humans. They may be interesting for scientists...
Even so, the question remains: is it really bad if species such as the pig-tailed bandicoot go extinct? Wilson attempts to explain the value of biodiversity, using a combination of utilitarian and purely moral arguments for saving species. Humanity, he argues, is driving straight for a cliff, and driving...
Wilson said the world has seen “a mass extinction of species and habitat” in the past hundred years—destruction that causes human suffering and can never be undone.
“By needlessly diminishing the lives of other species, we only reduce the quality of our own lives,” he said.