In the article, the problem of anthropomorphism is revealed from an unusual perspective. While this problem is considered most often in a gnoseological vein, we will consider anthropomorphism in the context of renewal of humanism in philosophy, and the rethinking of the conception of a human in ethics and ethology initiated by it. Based on the examples of works by F. de Waal, V. V. Bibikhin and J. Bennet, the article illustrates how the problem of anthropomorphism connects with overcoming anthropocentrism and with creating the project of horizontal ethics on the basis of flat ontology.