Economic Speciesism

Speciesism, as diagnosed by Swartz and Mishler (2022), is the belief that species are uniquely real biological entities and that the human species is superior to nonhuman life. This view reflects human exceptionalism rooted in cultural institutions and is reinforced by scientific practices that impose arbitrary species-level boundaries across the Tree of Life. This perceived separation has long been used to justify prioritizing human interests, including the systematic use of nonhuman organisms for human purposes. Building on this, economic speciesism can be understood as the normalization of extracting value from nonhuman life through market logic that favors utility and disregards agency, sentience, and ecological functions. We introduce a dual-layered valuation model that distinguishes instrumental value—based on the utility life provides—from intrinsic value, which reflects both the structural, energetic, and evolutionary roles of organisms within complex systems, as well as ethical considerations of other lineages. Using carbon as a biospheric currency, we quantify contributions across trophic levels and explore tools like trophic network modeling and dependency mapping to make systemic interdependence visible for policy development. Although economic considerations alone cannot fully capture the ethical value of nonhuman life, they serve as a strategic entry point to foster broader scientific and ethical appreciation of life’s complexity and interdependence.