Final answer:
The statement is True. Weak anthropocentrism is an effort to integrate human interests with ecocentric ethics, recognizing the environment's intrinsic value alongside human well-being.
Step-by-step explanation:
True or False: Weak anthropocentrism is a human effort to apply the ethic of ecocentrism within the limits of human understanding. This statement is True. Weak anthropocentrism acknowledges the natural human tendency to prioritize human well-being while striving to integrate an ethic of ecocentrism, recognizing that other forms of life and the environment itself have intrinsic value beyond their utility to human interests.
While deep ecology opposes traditional anthropocentrism for viewing humans as superior and separate from nature, weak anthropocentrism attempts to reconcile the human-centered approach with environmental ethics. Lynn White pointed to Judeo-Christian thinking as a root of historical anthropocentrism, which perceived nature as having only instrumental value to humans. In contrast, weak anthropocentrism, while still centered on human perspectives, can lead to environmental care out of a recognition of shared human interests, such as the necessity of clean air and water, and the desire to preserve the Earth for future generations.
Therefore, weak anthropocentrism is essentially embracing that our human-focused view takes into account the ethical obligations we have towards the environment by applying environmental ethics from a human perspective but without disregarding the intrinsic value of the non-human world.