Claim. Human beings are the purpose and center of the entire cosmos — without humans to perceive, love, and govern it, the rest of creation has no fulfilled value. This anthropic centrality is structural to the purpose-of-creation, not anthropomorphic projection.
Elaboration. DP’s argument runs through a teleological chain from energy upward: “energy exists in order to form particles, particles exist to form atoms, atoms to form molecules, molecules to form matter, and matter exists for the creation of all the individual entities in the universe” (2.3.4. The Mode of Existence of the Four Position Foundation).
Then the keystone: “What is the purpose of the universe? What is its center? The answer to both questions is none other than human beings. This is why God, after creating human beings, commanded them to have dominion over the universe. If there were no people to appreciate the universe, then it could be likened to a museum without any visitors. The articles on display in a museum attain their true value and are cherished as historical relics only when there are people who appreciate, love and take delight in them” (ibid).
Humans are central in two distinct ways: externally as physical lords (classifying, naming, assimilating creation’s elements into the human body and built environment) and internally as the spiritual center responding to creation’s beauty with emotion, intellect, and will. “The place where God and human beings become completely one is the center of the cosmos.”
Had adam and eve reached perfection, Adam would have been “the king of all the subject elements in creation” and Eve “the queen of all the object elements”; their conjugal union would have been the center of cosmic harmony (ibid). The Fall left “the universe lost its center.”
See also. dp-creation-as-substantial-object-partner-image-vs-symbol