Dominators, cospecies, or stewards: A biblically inspired perspective on the role of humans towards animals

Abstract

The ecological crisis is attributed to the Western interpretation of Christianity, and their anthropocentric view on nature, including animals. With the Netherlands sharing the Judeo-Christian history of Europe, it is not surprising that the duality between and superiority of humans over animals can also be recognized as a common opinion within Dutch society. But this view on a struct duality between humans and animals is changing. Three perspectives on the role of humans towards animals can be recognised in Dutch society: the dominator-perspective, the cospecies-perspective and the steward-perspective. This thesis aims to investigate which of these perspectives on the role of humans towards animals fits with Biblically-inspired indications, and whether and if so, how this perspective is able to cope with ecological challenges that include animals. To achieve this aim, the three perspectives are first conceptualised by means of four characteristics, and then compared to Biblically-inspired indications that are based on an exploration of Biblical passages and verses. After concluding that only the steward-perspective fits with the Biblically-inspired indications, this thesis presents two cases to show that this perspective can offer new insights and arguments to cope with ecological challenges that include animals.