Philosophy Of Ecological Benevolence Researches

By far major schools of environmental ethics mostly come from the western world.To enrich modern ecoethics theories as well as to provide theoretical support for the construction of Chinese ecological civilization,this paper proposes a Philosophy of Ecological Benevolence(PEB for short)based on the survey of ecological thoughts and practices in traditional Chinese culture.PEB offers a view of man,nature and their relationships from the perspective of Benevolence,and stands as a theory of ecoethics with its metaphysical implication and practical codes of conducts.In the metaphysical sense,Benevolence as noumenon firstly means it’s the root of the driving force that creates things in the world,and secondly,it’s a practical principle that guides human behavior in dealing with the environments.A Benevolence-wisdom structure works while practicing PEB,with Benevolence as motivation like an engine and Wisdom as judgment to make sure things are on the right track.In the practical sense,to harvest in keeping with time and to exploit in moderation serve as codes of conduct.PEB features a harmony of the true,the good and the beautiful.The contents of this paper are as follows:Chapter One presents an outline of PEB,first states the theoretical standpoints and research significance,and then elaborates on the implications of PEB,which includes its philosophical foundation,its code of conducts as well as its features and characteristics.Chapter Two introduces the history of PEB.Following the clues of how thoughts on Benevolence and Wisdom formed and developed,the history of PEB is divided into four stages:the germination(before the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods),the growth(during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods),the development(from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods to the Song Dynasty)and the maturity(from the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties).Chapter Three summarizes the education and practice of PEB.The education includes children’s formative eco-education and adults’eco-education featuring poetry,music and mental cultivation.As for practice,there appears an ecological mode of heaven-earth-man trinity in agriculture as well as a functioning mechanism of government-civilian cooperation.Chapter Four presents comparisons between PEB and other ecoethics views and theories.First PEB is compared with Buddhist and Taoist ecological views on their philosophical foundations,subjectivity statuses and their values on treating nature.Then comes the comparison between PEB and western theories of environmental ethics on their theoretical standpoints,cultural backgrounds and views on man-nature relations.