Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the practice of attributing human traits, emotions, and intentions to nonhuman entities, such as animals, plants, objects, or deities. This concept has deep historical roots, present in various cultures worldwide, where it has often been used to help explain the divine or natural phenomena. Initially, anthropomorphism described the depiction of gods in human form, but it later expanded to include a broader range of human-like characteristics assigned to a variety of nonhuman entities.
Throughout history, anthropomorphism has been critiqued for potentially clouding one's understanding of reality, yet it is also recognized for fostering empathy and moral consideration, particularly towards animals. In literature and the arts, the practice is often referred to as personification, where abstract concepts or natural elements are given human attributes. Contemporary interpretations suggest that this inclination may stem from an evolutionary advantage, helping humans navigate an ambiguous world by relating it to familiar human experiences.
While anthropomorphism can enrich human connections to nature and the environment, it contrasts with dehumanization, where individuals or groups are stripped of their human qualities, often leading to oppression. Understanding anthropomorphism can provide insights into humanity's complex relationship with both the natural world and its own social constructs.
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Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics to a nonhuman object or being such as a plant, animal, geological feature, or deity. Instances of anthropomorphism can be found historically in cultures throughout the world. Around the seventeenth century, many scholars began to agree that the human tendency to anthropomorphize inhibits a clearer understanding of the world. In the twenty-first century, however, many concede that it also enables people to feel compassion and empathy, and to extend moral considerations and ethical care to nonhuman animals.
Brief History
Anthropomorphism—from the Greek words for "human," anthropos, and "form," morphe—was initially used to describe the act of attributing human characteristics to the gods. By the nineteenth century, it had acquired a broader meaning. It encompassed not only the religious sphere, but also all areas of human action, emotion, and thought.
The early phenomenon of anthropomorphism, however, did not belong solely to the ancient Greeks. Throughout recorded history, most cultures seem to have ascribed human characteristics and emotions to deities, from positive emotions such as gratefulness and love, to negative impulses such as jealousy, treachery, and pride. Deities represented in animal shape, or even with no physical representation whatsoever, are believed by the faithful to be able to hear and understand prayer, perceive human thoughts, and even engage in some forms of symbolic communication.
The earliest documented writings on anthropomorphism known to date were authored by the Greek poet Xenophanes (ca. 560–ca. 478 BCE), who criticized the human inclination to envision the gods in human forms. Many theologians have also been concerned about the prevalence of anthropomorphism in religion. In general, though, contemporary theologians agree that anthropomorphism is a necessary facet of religious practice, as it allows worshipers to more deeply relate to the object of spiritual devotion. For example, in order for human beings to pray to them, deities must be able to understand human language.
Other types of anthropomorphism also exist. People throughout time have described many elements in nature using human terms, such as mountains, clouds, trees, and even rocks. For instance, historically, people have referred to the planet as Mother Earth. Artists worldwide have represented natural objects—such as the stars and planets—as having facial features and gender. In literature and visual arts, these representations are known as personification, and can also refer to abstract ideas, as when people represent Love, Liberty, Justice, or Death as human figures. Anthropomorphism also exists in science. Nineteenth century naturalist Charles Darwin conceived of nature as a kind of being which constantly sought to improve her creatures, and meteorologists today give human names to storms and hurricanes.
Anthropomorphism Today
A popular explanation for the cultural persistence of anthropomorphism is that it results from the need to make sense of an uncertain world. Other thinkers argue that it may be an ingrained tendency in human beings and may have evolutionary benefits. For example, ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman animals makes them appear worthy of moral consideration, empathy, and compassion, leading people to treat animal resources and the environment with care. This way of thinking may have prevented earlier societies from engaging in wasteful hunting or overhunting.
Despite the tendency to anthropomorphize, people in general do not attribute human features to every single object around them. Similarity, experts find, plays an important role. An object is more likely to be anthropomorphized if it seems or is believed to have numerous traits similar to those of a person. Anthropomorphism seems to be influenced by many other cultural and psychological factors as well.
One view holds that it is done to explain a mysterious and incomprehensible world by way of using a familiar model. This view fails to explain, however, why people ascribe intentionality and other human traits to their pets, automobiles, and computers and other familiar aspects of daily life. Similarly, famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) held that people anthropomorphize to minimize threat. A harsh, indifferent world becomes less menacing when made familiar. This theory does not explain why people sometimes ascribe threatening human features to nonhuman objects, however.
Another popular explanation is that anthropomorphism results from the need to make sense of a universe that seems uncertain and ever changing. The world is persistently ambiguous and most events can have any number of identifiable causes and effects. This line of thought holds that human beings need to understand and interpret the world through a human frame in order to make sense of it.
The opposite of anthropomorphism is called dehumanization. The most common example of this is the representation of human beings as nonhuman animals or objects, which, historically, has been a method of oppression and persecution. Studying human phenomena such as anthropomorphism and dehumanization helps social scientists understand humanity’s relationship with the world it inhabits.
Bibliography
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Mitchell, Robert W., Nicholas S. Thompson, and H. Lyn Miles. Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals. SUNY P, 1997.
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