Anthropocentrism refers to a philosophical world view where human beings are seen as superior to other living and non-living things. It justifies the exploitation of nature for the sake of human welfare. Enlightened anthropocentrism is a world view that says humans have ethical obligations towards the environment but those can be justified in terms of obligations towards other humans. For instance, environmental pollution can be seen as immoral because it negatively affects the lives of other people. Similarly, the wasteful use of natural resources is viewed as immoral because it deprives future generations of those resources.
