84
C. Huang
residents and killing 17 within four days. The London smog from December 5 to 8,
1952, caused more than 4000 deaths.
The occurrence of the above-mentioned environmental disasters aroused wide
attention in the United States and some other countries, and set off an environmental
movement in the West. Politicians and intellectuals in the United States employed
various means to promote environmental protection. For example, in 1962, American
biologist Rachel Carson published the book Silent Spring, disclosing that the use of
pesticides had a bad effect on the country’s environment; in 1963, U.S. President John
F. Kennedy wrote an introduction for The Quiet Crisis, a book calling for environmental protection; American historian Lynn White published The Historical Roots
of Our Ecological Crisis at an academic conference, which led to an increase in the
American religious circle’s attention to environmental issues; American politician
Gai Rod Nelson delivered speeches at major colleges and universities in the United
States to inform American college students of the fact that the environment had
deteriorated in the country and encourage them to engage in environmental protection; and U.S. newspapers and magazines published articles related to environmental
issues. From the late 1960s to the 1970s, thanks to the joint efforts of people from
all walks of life in the United States, the country saw the founding of a large number
of environmental organizations related to land use and animal protection, and California and other states that faced with serious environmental problems issued laws
related to the use of automobiles and industrial fuels. On April 22, 1970, 20 million
people attended events across the United States to celebrate the first Earth Day. The
U.S. Congress adjourned for the day. No vehicles were allowed on Fifth Avenue,
Manhattan, the busiest street in New York City. Hundreds of thousands of people
took to the street to demand a clean environment. Two years later, the United Nations
convened the Conference on the Human Environment and adopted the Declaration
of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, calling for prudent
decisions to ensure environmental sustainability for future generations.
Since then, modern Western philosophers have emphasized that it is necessary to
oppose anthropocentrism and promote pan-humanism. Biocentrism and ecocentrism
are two representative ecological political philosophies. Biocentrism holds that all
living things are morally considerable. It was first proposed by Albert Schweitzer in
his book Civilization and Ethics. Schweitzer believes that ethics must be extended
to all animals and plants, and human beings should cherish all lives and hold them
equal to their own. Theoretically speaking, treating all lives with respect and awe
is consistent with the Buddhist belief that all lives are equal and that it is wrong
to kill. Biocentrism recognizes the intrinsic value of all lives and establishes the
same ethical relationships between them as those between human beings. In fact,
Schweitzer was indeed profoundly influenced by Buddhism from the East. He is
also the author of the book Indian Thought and Its Development. He believes in
the Buddhist teaching that human beings should not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave,
insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being. In response to the tragic
human struggles caused by the two world wars and the unprecedented destruction of
the ecological environment, Schweitzer proposed the concept of reverence for life
and extended the principle of love to animals. This is a huge step forward in the history
C. Huang
residents and killing 17 within four days. The London smog from December 5 to 8,
1952, caused more than 4000 deaths.
The occurrence of the above-mentioned environmental disasters aroused wide
attention in the United States and some other countries, and set off an environmental
movement in the West. Politicians and intellectuals in the United States employed
various means to promote environmental protection. For example, in 1962, American
biologist Rachel Carson published the book Silent Spring, disclosing that the use of
pesticides had a bad effect on the country’s environment; in 1963, U.S. President John
F. Kennedy wrote an introduction for The Quiet Crisis, a book calling for environmental protection; American historian Lynn White published The Historical Roots
of Our Ecological Crisis at an academic conference, which led to an increase in the
American religious circle’s attention to environmental issues; American politician
Gai Rod Nelson delivered speeches at major colleges and universities in the United
States to inform American college students of the fact that the environment had
deteriorated in the country and encourage them to engage in environmental protection; and U.S. newspapers and magazines published articles related to environmental
issues. From the late 1960s to the 1970s, thanks to the joint efforts of people from
all walks of life in the United States, the country saw the founding of a large number
of environmental organizations related to land use and animal protection, and California and other states that faced with serious environmental problems issued laws
related to the use of automobiles and industrial fuels. On April 22, 1970, 20 million
people attended events across the United States to celebrate the first Earth Day. The
U.S. Congress adjourned for the day. No vehicles were allowed on Fifth Avenue,
Manhattan, the busiest street in New York City. Hundreds of thousands of people
took to the street to demand a clean environment. Two years later, the United Nations
convened the Conference on the Human Environment and adopted the Declaration
of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, calling for prudent
decisions to ensure environmental sustainability for future generations.
Since then, modern Western philosophers have emphasized that it is necessary to
oppose anthropocentrism and promote pan-humanism. Biocentrism and ecocentrism
are two representative ecological political philosophies. Biocentrism holds that all
living things are morally considerable. It was first proposed by Albert Schweitzer in
his book Civilization and Ethics. Schweitzer believes that ethics must be extended
to all animals and plants, and human beings should cherish all lives and hold them
equal to their own. Theoretically speaking, treating all lives with respect and awe
is consistent with the Buddhist belief that all lives are equal and that it is wrong
to kill. Biocentrism recognizes the intrinsic value of all lives and establishes the
same ethical relationships between them as those between human beings. In fact,
Schweitzer was indeed profoundly influenced by Buddhism from the East. He is
also the author of the book Indian Thought and Its Development. He believes in
the Buddhist teaching that human beings should not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave,
insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being. In response to the tragic
human struggles caused by the two world wars and the unprecedented destruction of
the ecological environment, Schweitzer proposed the concept of reverence for life
and extended the principle of love to animals. This is a huge step forward in the history