Why do we in the west think that human beings are special? Since every species is special (or else it would not be a species – special is the adjective of species), what is so special about Homo sapiens that the needs of humans supplant the needs of all other species, unless the needs of humans are met by other species? I will argue that human exceptionalism is a result of modern interpretations of the biblical narratives, economic motives, and sociocultural accidents.
Technical terms in science are sometimes treated as contrary to religious doctrines, and yet scientific terms shade from foreign intruders in religious usage to comfortable ideas that no believers need worry about. For instance, the Bible does not recognize mammals (since they were first defined by Linnaeus in 1735), but religious folk seem to have no issue with using that notion in ordinary life; while other terms, like fish, which includes both crocodiles and cetaceans in the Bible: Gen 1:26, 28; Job 41:1 (Burnett 2007…
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