Search

The status of anthropomorphism has changed in recent decades, allowing for in-depth consideration of its meaning and salience. Advocates of anthropomorphism have put forth a series of scientific and theoretical arguments to establish the concept's legitimacy. Nonetheless, while many advocates of anthropomorphism criticize the scientific worldview that objectifies nonhumans, their arguments still retain a cognitive perspective that implicitly reaffirms human-nonhuman hierarchies. This paper challenges these notions by accentuating the role of material factors in the formation and dissemination of anthropomorphic thought. These materials include human and nonhuman bodies, as well as the physicality of the external environment. This paper also examines the different ways in which social factors blend with these material factors to bring about anthropomorphic thinking. To clarify these issues, this paper examines an ongoing human conflict with harbor seals in La Jolla, California to illustrate these points. It concludes by suggesting that materialist articulations of anthropomorphism may foster an ethical perspective with environmental significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the electronic journal timeliness study by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library in 1999 and 2000. Comparison of the receipt of print journal issues with the availability of the same issues online; Percentage of issues with online versions already available by the time of print receipt.

Profiles Harmon Craig, professor of oceanography and geochemistry at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. Award received by Craig in 1998; Impact of Craig's research on the field of geochemistry; Analysis of the methane content of the atmosphere.