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Modern linguistics is founded on a radical premise: the equality of all languages. "All languages have equal expressive power as communication systems," writes Steven Pinker. "Every grammar is equally complex and logical and capable of producing an infinite set of sentences to express any thought one might wish to express," says a recent textbook. "The outstanding fact about any language is its formal completeness," wrote Edward Sapir, adding elsewhere for rhetorical effect: "When it comes to linguistic form, Plato walks with the Macedonian swineherd, Confucius with the head-hunting savage of Assam."

Modern linguistics is founded on a radical premise: the equality of all languages. 'All languages have equal expressive power as communication systems,' writes Steven Pinker. 'Every grammar is equally complex and logical and capable of producing an infinite set of sentences to express any thought one might wish to express,' says a recent textbook. 'The outstanding fact about any language is its formal completeness,' wrote Edward Sapir, adding elsewhere for rhetorical effect: 'When it comes to linguistic form, Plato walks with the Macedonian swineherd, Confucius with the head-hunting savage of Assam.'. Adapted from the source document.

Hiroshima was the first sign of the possibility of the human-inflicted devastation of the natural as well as the human world. But the potential for destruction is greater than it was in August 1945. It is now incumbent upon philosophy and critical though to consider the contemporary destruction of the non-human species and ecology upon which continued human life depends. This paper uses Hiroshima as a point of entry into consideration of the need now to think beyond anthropocentrism and instead to think more ecologically.