Ecological Economic Ethics

The concept of the eco - economic ethic presupposes the appearance of the eco - economic era, characterized by people's deeper feeling and understanding of the ecological crisis and by the widespread belief in the realization of the all - around sustainable development of economy, society and environment. The eco - economic era provides the necessary background for the birth and development of the eco - economic ethic.As a new kind of economic ethic, the eco - economic ethic arises to satisfy the needs of the development of the ecological economy. It serves two purposes: to justify the existence and development of the e-cological economy from an ethical point of view on the one hand, and to produce the necessary moral atmosphere or the necessary moral order for the development of the ecological economy on the other. Accordingly , the definition of the eco - economic ethic also concerns two considerations, one being to find out the existential reasonability of the ecological economy, while the other being to define the eco- economic ethical consciousness, the eco-economic ethical principles, the eco-economic ethical relations, and the eco -economic ethical practice, all of which are needed for the development of the ecological economy. The two aspects form the supporting system of the eco - economic ethic. Anyhow, the eco - economic ethic is mainly used in the secondsense. Therefore, the eco - economic ethic can be defined as a kind of economic ethic which forms in people's voluntary pursuit of the unity and balance among economic construction, social development and environmental protection in their eco - economic activities; or a kind of e-conomic ethic which sums up the eco- economic ethical consciousness, the eco - economic ethical principles, the eco - economic ethical relations, and the eco- economic ethical practice necessary for the development of the ecological economy.As a special kind of economic ethic, the eco - economic ethic has its own special nature, features and functions. The eco- economic ethic sees its particular nature in its criticism of, its succession to, and its surpassingness of the conventional economic ethical thoughts of mankind . The unique features of the eco - economic ethic lie in the peculiarity of the eco - economic ethical consciousness, the particularity of the eco - economic ethical relations and the uniquity of the eco -economic ethical practice. And as a kind of economic ethic, the eco -economic ethic can exert great impact on the conduct of the individual and social life. The influential force that the eco - economic ethic has is called the function of the eco - economic ethic. The eco - economic ethic is able to perform many functions, among which the function of guiding the values, the function of regulating social conduct, and the function of creating efficiency are most fundamental and important.The eco- economic ethic advocates four basic principles, namely,the principle of protecting environment and man simultaneously, theprinciple of eco - economic efficiency, the principle of eco - economic justice, and the principle of sustainable development. The first principle, based on the belief that in the ecological crisis both environment and man are in great danger, emphasizes the importance of protecting environment and man when we are trying to develop economy. The principle of eco - economic efficiency, established through criticizing and negating the so - called efficiency model of pure utility, calls for an organic balance among the economic effect, the social effect and the environmental effect that human economic activities produce. What lies in the center of the principle of eco - economic justice is the requirement that human beings are not supposed to harm each other in the development of nature. The principle of sustainable development, the highest standard among the four eco - economic ethical principles, aims at the realization of the all - around sustainable development of e-conomy, society and environment.Alike to other kinds of e...