Abstract
This paper investigates how pre-modern understandings of time and progress challenge prevailing anthropocentric notions of leadership rooted in modern ideals of continuous improvement and human mastery over nature. It begins by interrogating contemporary leadership paradigms, which define success primarily as the capacity for perpetual growth achieved through human planning and intervention. Turning to pre-modern perspectives, the paper highlights two alternative frameworks: the theocentric worldview, dominant in Biblical and medieval contexts, and the cosmocentric worldview of classical antiquity. Theocentrism situates leadership within a divinely orchestrated history, casting leaders not as agents of autonomous progress, but as stewards who ensure alignment with a predetermined divine order. Cosmocentrism rejects linear, infinite progress in favor of cyclical natural rhythms, embedding human existence within broader patterns of birth, growth, and decline. Here, effective leadership entails educating communities to live sustainably and in sync with these natural cycles, rather than striving to exceed them. In its final section, the paper speculates on how emerging developments, such as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), could render traditional anthropocentric frameworks obsolete by stripping humans of their exceptional status. This post-anthropocentric shift demands a radical rethinking of leadership roles and strategies—no longer emphasizing human-driven progress but instead adapting to new realities in which human control is diminished or displaced. Ultimately, by examining pre-modern conceptions alongside futuristic speculations, this paper provides a fresh perspective on leadership, inviting readers to reconsider contemporary assumptions and preparing them for potential transformations that AGI and other disruptive forces could bring.
Presenters
Alfonso R. VergarayAssistant Professor, Social Sciences, Texas A&M International University, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Leadership, Time/Progress, Anthropocentrism, Pre-Modern Thought, AGI
