BIOCENTRISM VS ANTHROPOCENTRISM:
A FOUNDING DISCUSSION OF BRAZILIAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Abstract
The discussion about man's position in relation to his environment is at the basis of the construction of a General Theory of Environmental Law. Often neglected in dogmatic studies, the understanding of the horizontality or verticality of this interaction implies practical repercussions in the context of judicial decisions. Starting from the perception that Brazilian constitutionalism adopted an anthropocentric perspective, albeit moderate, this article aims to investigate the occurrence of a movement of emergence of a biocentric conception, either from the sphere of infra-constitutional laws, or from judicial decisions. Therefore, the text approaches anthropocentric and biocentric conceptions, both within Brazilian constitutionalism and in comparative law. It is proposed, in a second moment, the identification of infra-constitutional norms and judicial decisions that suggest a way of resignifying the relationship between man and the environment, in a possible epistemological transition to Brazilian environmental law.
