Anthropocentrism (/ˌænθroʊpoʊˈsɛntrɪzəm/; from Greek Ancient Greek: ἄνθρωπος, ánthrōpos, “human being”; and Ancient Greek: κέντρον , kéntron, “center”) the belief that considers human beings to be the most significant entity of the universe and interprets or regards the world in terms of human values and experiences.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocentrism whereas, enlightened anthropocentrism holds the view that humans do have ethical obligations toward the environment, but they can be justified in terms of obligations toward other humans. Both of these terms are new to me, and I am glad I have discovered them. Recently, I have been thinking about the progression of ‘man’ simultaneous to the evolution of our planet. The term Anthropocentrism thus its antidote ‘enlightened anthropocentrism’ both date back to the ages of Ancient Greek, ultimately meaning that these ideas surrounding mans’ ‘role’ have been discussed and debated for centuries. Despite these terms being literally ancient however, the concepts of global warming, carbon footprints and climate change are all quite modern and only being recently educated to the contemporary masses. Therefore, providing contemporary generations with a sense of enlightened anthropocentrism. Although this in essence is good for the future, what really is worrying me is the unproductively of the past.

“While Europe maintained the museums and cultures of the past, America thought of itself as a forging new frontier” (p17), writes Rushkoff as he explains the catalyst of Western society’s ‘current shock’. Similarly, I think the same is presenting itself in the issue of climate change and man’s inability to shift his anthropocentrism to enlightenment. How far have our humanities actually evolved if we’re still fighting a debate on whether climate change exists?! This makes me sad, because if we have been aware of perhaps that man is human and therefore connected to the process of earth, why haven’t we changed ourselves within the last couple of thousand years and adopted a philosophy which is beneficial to all. This makes me sad… Come on humans. And yet, as I ponder this I type it down on my aluminum covered laptop, which was ripped from the earth in order to exist. *Sigh*. Oh the sad, sad, brutal irony of this education.

Describe it

Pocket sized. A dark blue book with golden embroidery. The embroidery illustrates a scene where a kangaroo and emu stand apart and opposite one another, in between them is some sort of plaque. The interior of plaque is divided up into six seperate squares, with each square housing a different illustration inside it; a cross with straight edges, a crown with dots five dots scattered underneath, a double edged cross, the silhouette of what looks to be a bird – perhaps an eagle, a swan and then a lion. Above this symbol the letters A.U.S.T.R.A.L.I.A are printed in capitals, and at the bottom of the page the letters P.a.s.s.p.o.r.t are placed, all in lowercase despite the first letter ‘P’. Underneath this there is a rectangular symbol that is divided by a horizontal line. Placed in the middle of this line is a golden circle that is placed in the middle of the rectangle, no sides are touching.

The book is made up of 42 double sided pages. The pages are not lined, however, there is a background image on each page that displays an array of Australian cultural characteristics. The images are different on each page, but are systematically repeated. The third page is dedicated to identifying a person. There is a coloured image accompanied to the right by writing, printed on a landscape format. The image is a head shot of a person and covers 1/3 of the page. The edges of this image are curved, and the image is printed in colour. To the right of this image details are printed. In light blue is the subject matter asked and the response to this ‘question’ is written in black.This page is sealed with a gloss, which make it unlike the other pages which have a matte finish.

What does it do?

Identifies individuals on a global scale through universal law. It is a document that demonstrates, legally, a representation of that person by portraying that persons nationality, place of birth, age, name, physical appearance (since photo is printed in colour this demonstrates their eye colour, hair colour, weight, sex, race) and a depiction of their signature. Along with this it associates each person with a unique global code characterised as a passport number. This passport number is used as a legal credential and can be associated as a institutionalised signature that represents the individual and their rights and responsibilities within a state. Used on forms, the passport number declares an individuals legalities almost moreso perhaps then an individual’s personalised signature which usually acts as a declaration of acknowledgement.

It permits and negotiates entry into different countries and is a protection of liberties, which at times strain the legalities and clarity of a states sovereignty and power over individuals within it. It is legally an electronic documentation of travel records, not only portraying the countries in which an individuals has travelled to within a ten year period but also a demonstration of each countries sovereignty at that time, symbolised through each stamp provided to the passport at the gate. An e-chip, which combines paper and electronics that contains biometric information can be used to authenticate the identity of travellers. This standardised biometric uses facial recognition, finger print recognition and iris recognition. The E-chip’s ability to recognise provides a higher level of protection for an individual’s identity in the case where a passport is stolen and attempted being used.