The Thought On Consumption Ethics

Human beings have made unprecedented progress in modern times, but the deterioration of the ecology environment and the shortage of spirit home, which has become an important factor restricting the development and improvement of society and led many scholars to think about this problem. The main character of consumption in modern society is the increasing of consumption quantity and the expansion of consumption territory, especially in west developed countries, which have transferred from the center of production to consumption. Therefore, consumption has been studied from different perspective, with different aim in economy, ethics, psychology, sociology and ecology; those studies produce the theoretical basis for the development of modern consumption ethics.Consumption ethics was explicitly introduced in 1970s, but the ethics estimate of consumption has existed for a long time. The core of consumption estimate is good or evil of frugality and luxury. China tradition advocates frugality from individual ethics and country development; In the west, frugality was advocated in early times, when it came to capitalism stage, in order to purse economy development, people are parted two classed: advocating frugality and encouraging consumption. The dominant view in the west is encouraging consumption. The consumerism led by encouraging consumption, which refers to the excess consumption of material wealth and nature resource, regard the pursuit of famous production s its ultimate aim. The features of consumption are following: preference to famous production, advertisement domino effect, the meaning of consumption symbol. Those lead to serious ecology crisis and resource shortage, enlarge the gap between the rich and the poor, bring the antinomy between material wealth and spirit degeneration. Consumerism mistakes normal needs as desirability, excessively exaggerates the effect of consumption in economy development, ignores theal-development and critic of consumes only for consumption.It is with the reflection and criticism of consumption that the new consumption ethics based on consumption arises and begins to develops which believes that consumption has to obey the human development, the essence rule, and be constrained by production, the quality rule, the above two rules are the reasonable connotation of the new consumption ethics. The new consumption ethics requires that it should be frugal but modest, unity spirit consumption with material consumption, benefit ecology balance and environment protection. Our country is being in economy transferring age, production and consumption existing at the same time. On the one hand, billion people are living for survival and consume pragmatically; the obvious contradiction in the consumption territory is that on the other hand, there are many people who consume excessively or consume with the public fund or consume for pursuing feast. The latter consumption condition destroys ecology environment and leads the spirit absence, demolishes society vogue. Thus we should consume reasonably with the instruction of the new consumption ethics. There are five principles in the new consumption ethics: modest consumption, fair consumption, material consumption unifying spirit consumption, scientific consumption and harmonious consumption.Facing to the various problems which exist in the present consumption territory in our country, we should take some effective measures which are as folio whig: opposing consumerism, adjusting and epitomizing the consumption structure, encouraging and instructing people to house and investment consumption, paying great attention to the education of consumption, striving to solve the shortage in poor and rural areas, advocating the simple and serene living model.