Multiplicity And Ambiguity:Aspects Of Thoreau's Ecological Thinking

As an ecological writer and thinker,Henry David Thoreau has exerted great and far-reaching influence on the development of ecological thought and on the whole ecological culture.It is of significance to carry out a study on his ecological thinking comprehensively and deeply.Under the guidance of ecologism and according to the principles and methods of rigorous ecocriticism,this study not only discusses the main aspects of Thoreau's multi-dimensional ecological thinking,but also investigates the contradictory tensions and uncertainty in his thinking to reveal his ecoambiguity.These two research perspectives are set based on a complete review of previous research carried out by American and Chinese scholars as well as the deficiencies and unsatisfactory statements.At the same time it aims to discover and analyze all the academic views worthy of learning and that needed to expand on in order to determine the starting point and the innovative direction of my research on Thoreau's ecological thinking.Thoreau's ecological thinking is diverse,in which the following aspects are the most important.Firstly,he realized and exposed the intrinsic value of Nature,the value of Nature for its own sake rather than for mankind as well as the value of the every part of the ecosystem for the whole ecosystem.Secondly,he regarded nature as a whole,taking the overall ecological interests as the highest value,appraising criteria and action rule.Thirdly,he expressed a rich viewpoint on ecological place,an ecological view of natural place rather than an anthropocentric cultural place or social space,and emphasized the necessity and importance of the ecological place from several aspects.Lastly,he proposed the simple life,an ecological life returning to Nature,complying with the simple law of Nature,confining human's material needs to the limit of ecological sustainability and co-existing with Nature harmoniously,which has an important significance for ecophilosophy.Thoreau's ecological thinking is ambiguous and the main causes are indicated as below.First of all,Thoreau was irresolute and ambivalent in the choice of his way of living,whether to return to nature ecologically or to live in human civilization socially.He can neither integrate into nature fully nor leave the civilization completely.Besides,his understanding and evaluation of civilization is also contradictory,although he preferred nature rather than civilization in general,he still pointed out objectively the necessity and importance of civilization,including commercial culture.There is also a contradiction in Thoreau's thinking about the ultimate goal whether it is for nature or for humanity,which would be the fundamental choice of human beings.Though he was inclined to put Nature before human beings,and he had never put human in a central position and the ultimate goal,he sometimes claimed that the greatest and wisest would still be related to men,and sometimes he also agreed to conquer and transform nature for the development of mankind.Although these contradictions of Thoreau's thoughts caused the ambiguity of Thoreau's ecological thinking,the main stream of Thoreau's thinking of nature and the relationship between man and nature is ecological,and he examined and criticized any remaining anthropocentric ideas in his own mind during his whole lifetime.The ambiguity of Thoreau's ecological thinking is of great importance,and the hesitation and uncertainty in his ecological thinking are a reminder and a warning to the later ecowriters and ecocritics as well as all ecologists in general:not to ignore the limitations of ecological thoughts and ecological civilization,not to neglect the complexity and multiplicity of humanity,and not to forget to confine human demands to the limit of ecological civilization,and not to go to the extremes of nonhuman,non-civilization,anti-civilization even antihuman.Thoreau's ecological thinking is profound and multiple,complex and ambiguous,and it is ahead of his time and alert.It has unique background and causes,which made his ecological thinking outstanding,exerting significant and lasting influences on the ideological,cultural and systematical construction of the later ecological civilization.