Green Politics And Ecological Enlightment

With the context of the approaching of "the ghost of ecological crisis" and the political philosophy becoming the first philosophy, this dissertation is designed to expound the political "turning" of ecology and virescence phenomena in public sphere, within the analytical framework of reunderstanding the term of "political philosophy". Furthermore, starting with the concept of nature, the dissertation analyses the two thinking modes of "Anthropocentrism" and "Ecocentrism" on the philosophical level. It points out their conflicts and reconciliation, reflects the internal limitation of the enlightening reason, put forwards and demonstrates a viewpoint of ecological enlightenment. All in all, it makes clear a political philosophical meaning of ecology as a neo-political ideology.The investigation follows the Socrates’questioning and analyzing manner. In this way, to acquire the comprehensive concept of the term of "political philosophy" we need to answer these two questions:what is the political, and what is the philosophical. This dissertation argues that, it is the aspect of "the public" that is the center of the concept of the political, and the political sphere is therefore the sphere of public opinions, while philosophy, with its task of loving wisdom, pays special attention to the sphere of truth, which involves values, norms and criteria. Politics’ essence is to reconcile and compromise all kinds of opinions, instead of using one truth to overwhelm the others. This is called political Golden Mean and modesty. By contrast, the keystone of philosophy is to "explore wisdom and pursuit universal and integral knowledges". It seems that some philosophers tend to believe their opinions as the ultimate truth. This is called philosophical "holy insaneness". At the same time, politics needs philosophy to provide reasonable guide and safeguard of virtue to examine operational rules of public sphere, on the other hand, philosophy also needs politics to provide activity spot and kinds of supports from real life, for philosophy should be descendant from clouds to polis. This is the complicated tense between politics and philosophy, which is expressed theoretically in the originate and essential meaning of the term of political philosophy. The analyzing of "ecology as political philosophy" is therefore displayed from this way.Since the main characteristic of political sphere is its aspect of the public, this investigation begins with analyzing the two classical attributions of public goods which is shared by ecological environment. It expounds that problems of ecological environment are at first political issues, so handling public goods of this kind demands policy measures, institution designs and public wisdom, not only relying on technological resolutions and economical thinking way. So we can say that the ecology with the feature of "technology and empiricism" is now developed to an kind of politics, and we should take a political thinking on ecological issues. Moreover, with a glance at its emergence, ecological political movements in1960s gave an impetus to the virescence of public sphere. And this is the beginning of green politics. Social movements as conflict politics presented political features. Conflicts, clashes and compromises among all kinds of opinions and actions were melted in public sphere. It is such the new social movements that founded the philosophical foundations and theoretical principles of green politics that are observed so far, such as values of post-modernism, participation parts of neo-bourgeois, organizing framework of grass roots and non-violent action ways. In a sense, the shaping of these four principles indicates the ending of the political turning of ecology. Public spheres in reality have already been green all over, and the most highlighted colour of green belongs to "green party politics". Compared with other traditional parties, green party which is resulted from ecological movements are full of neutral green clours at the beginning, which means "no left and no right". However, on the path to power, green party should observe the playing rules of modern politics. It should make a compromise on its principles and baselines. This also proves that the political as the sphere of public opinions is featured with Golden Mean and modesty.In a fundamental sense, virescence of public sphere benefits from an introduction of a key concept of nature, which has stepped into central issue ranges of modern politics and shaped principles of green party. Thus, the conception of nature is an inevitable involved issue. Though in the stage of industrial civilization, people can conquer nature with the tool of technology, they held nature in awe as a mystery and something like ghost before that stage. During the time of post-industrial civilization, people reargue a harmony state between human and nature. So the relationship between people and nature is a key clue to understand the developing course of human civilization history, and it is also a core issue concerned by schools of ecologism at present. In the structure of the tense of the political and the philosophical,"Anthropocentrism" has dominated for a long time and ever a main political thinking way, but after suffering severe criticism and questioning by ecocentrism, it becomes more and more ecological. And ecocentrism comes to demonstrate itself theoretically, though at the same time it displays philosophically a kind of holy insaneness and practically a utopia. Therefore, we need to seek a balance between them, guiding them from conflict to reconciliation. That means "Philosophically think, but politically act!"In conclusion, the complete settlements of the problems of ecology environment should rely on people themselves and the second enlightening of human thinking ways. So this dissertation reflects the development of human reason from Enlightment in an ecological way. It reflects the establishment of human identity as an opponent part of nature, and its ecological effects. To pursuit the analytical ideal, especially the analytical spirits in18century, human reason has ever lost its enlightening feature and dropped in a trap of conceit. It comes to be an instrumental reason, which is typically portrayed as an economical reason and results in a deserted and value-confused environment. Obviously, if we only emphasize its political aspect of ecology, the public sphere will undoubtedly become a bureaucratic and mechanic iron cage; if we only emphasize its philosophical aspect, people will be aliened as a human machine that is only good at rational counting. Thus, to overcome the fatal conceit of human reason and to expect a green and clear public sphere, humankind needs another enlightenment:ecological enlightenment. This enlightenment can surely display the exact meaning of ecological political philosophy, which is becoming a new political ideology by acquiring an ideological identity among liberalism, conservatism, socialism and so on. By comparing the main ideologies mentioned above, this dissertation finally expounds that ecologism is a new kind of political ideology and can infuse our ideas and actions with some fresh essentials.