The Commentary On Aldo·Leopold's Ecological Holism Thought

As one of the theorists in Ecological Ethics, Aldo Leopold is also a philosopher who initiated the study of ethical holism systematically. In his posthumous work"A Sand County Almanac", Leopold put forward many theories of ecological ethics, such as"Thinking Like a Mountain","the Value of Wildness","the Land Ethic", etc., expatiating his theory system of ecological holism, and proposing his basic value criterion in the third chapter of"The Outlook"of"A Sand County Almanac", that is,"All things are right when they tend to maintain the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community, otherwise they are wrong."2,which has aroused a tremendous reaction in philosophy.Leopold considered that it is difficult to emphasize the right of biological individual, and base the ecological ethics on the concept of the individual. He shifted his attention from individual organism to groups, or the whole like species, populations or ecosystem. He stressed the value of non-centralized ecological entirety, elaborated the thought of ecological holism comprehensively. It has many theoretical values and practical significances, for it denies human's dominant position between human and nature by negating mechanic nature value. However, the ecological holism surpasses the humanism and liberalism which center on human individual's dignity, rights, freedom and development, subverts some basic values which have been recognized generally for a long time, and also encounters various theoretical condemnations. Discussing Leopold's thought of ecological holism will help us understand it in a comprehensive and profound perspective about the realistic foundation, the philosophy implication and the disputation of theories. And it is also helpful for us to analyze its theory and practical significance, and unilateral theories objectively. This will have great theoretical and practical significance for the development of environmental ethics, environmental protection and the harmonious coexistence between human and nature.This paper elaborates the formation and development of Leopold's ecological holism thoughts. It has discussed ecological holism and the forerunner's academic research on this issue. It strives to make a comprehensive and profound remark on Leopold's ecological holism. It will be helpful to reveal the profound ecological implications of ecological holism. On the one hand, it will propel the construction of"the ecological civilization"in our country. On the other hand, it will contribute to suggest the further experimental theory on the new development of ecological holism to make up the deficiencies of the ecological holism.