| Since mankind's entrance into 19th century, especially since 20th century, the relationship between man and nature has changed at all with the development and prosperity of social economy and scientific technology as well as the giant strides of industry. This has arisen the globally environmental crisis. According to this increasingly serious problem, a lot of men of insight begin to rethink each aspect of it thoroughly that mankind faces. From the criticism of traditional ethical concept and viewpoint of value, western environmental ethicists attempt to establish a kind of brand-new ethics and value system, in order to completely solve the ecological difficult condition that mankind is now faced with. Starting from different environmental resources, when reviewing the position of man in the relation of man and nature, they have also evaluated the value of nonhuman natural existent things. It is the inevitable outcome that complies with new natural view to reappraise natural value.Natural value is the theoretical fulcrum of environmental ethics. Western environmental ethicists think there is no environmental ethics without considering natural value (especially intrinsic value). The scholar of our country thinks, from recognizing the value of nature, extending the concept of ethical morality actively to the research of the other entity of biology and nature builds a bridge directly towards Chinese environmental ethics. The thought way of evaluating natural value is the argument basis of environmental ethics, it is also the crux of environmental ethics deviding line. The theory of natural value has opened new fields and has offered new programs for environmental ethics research.Natural value is of a specially wide extension. It has broken through the limit of human community and extended value to all of the life community of natural things including mankind. It has 3 intrinsic stipulations:natural things have intrinsic value, they are equal between species and theirs value does not rely on human needs;nature (overall nature or specific natural things) is the object of natural value, the various properties it has are the material basis or carrier of natural value;the harmonious development of ecosystem (include ecological environment and human society) is the highest goal of value of human social development and the fundamental measure of appraisement of ecological environment. Natural value is the general which is abstracted from these 3 intrinsic stipulations and is the unification of external and intrinsic value of nature. The major bifurcation of traditional and natural viewpoint of value lies in whether nature has intrinsic value.The thought of natural value theory may be called long-termed and lasting. The Confucianism,Taoism and Buddhism thought in eastern cultural tradition all have the wisdom of natural value. Western schools of thought of nonhuman-centered environmental ethics also take natural value as its major theory. Rolston is the epitomist of natural value theory. He, by the value appraisement of ecology for natural thing and absorbing eastern thought critically, has broken through the western scientific limit between fact and value, has strided across the wide gap between "is" and "should", has put forward the moral responsibility for nonhuman kind of object undoubtedly and logically, and has offered theoretical basis for the establishment of environmental ethics of respecting life and protecting nature.Natural value theory is a kind of brand-new theory that is quite disputable. Summarily, the disputes mainly concentrate on 3 aspects:(1) Whether does nature have subjectivity?(2) Whether has natural value obscured the relation of value and existence?(3) Is natural value subjective or objective?Natural value theory believes that existence and value are not divisible. They are natural properties and can be linked up. It is not man who only has subjectivity. Attributing the property of value merely to human subjectivity is just one-way willingness. Natural value is the unif...
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