Toward a New Civilization: Ecological
Civilization or Information Civilization
Feng Lu
The accelerated progress of modern science and technology and the appearance of
global ecological crisis have both made us realize the end of an old age and the arrival
of a new one as we are moving from industrial civilization to a new civilization. There
are various views as to what defines the new age or civilization and how we should
name it. Two views are worth special attention—the new age or civilization is about
ecology or about information. This paper will compare the two views and briefly
delineate the vision of the new civilization.
1 Ecological Civilization Theory
The first foreign scholar that put forth the idea of ecological civilization was perhaps
professor Iring Fetscher from the Department of Politics of the University of Frankfurt. In the article titled “On the Environment of Human Survival and Dialectics
of Progress” published in 1978, Fetscher said, the expected and allegedly urgently
needed ecological civilization—unlike Schelsky’s technical state—presupposes a
social entity that consciously controls the system. That will materialize in a humanitarian and free manner rather than through an expert team serving a global ecological
autocracy. Today the age of avid aspiration for infinite progress is coming to an end,
and the age when man believes in infinite conquest of nature has come under question. Since a merciful lifestyle featuring peaceful co-existence between man and
nature is completely possible, uninhibited technological progress must be controlled
and restricted. This article by Fetscher marked a milestone in the history of human
thoughts. Targeting a fundamental mistake in modern western thoughts—man can
conquer nature unlimitedly with technological progress, he primarily envisaged the
ecological civilization. Predicting the forthcoming end of the age of avid aspiration
F. Lu (B)
Center for Ecological Civilization, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
© China Environment Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 2021
J. Pan et al. (eds.), Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views
on Eco-civilization Construction, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6742-5_53
535
Civilization or Information Civilization
Feng Lu
The accelerated progress of modern science and technology and the appearance of
global ecological crisis have both made us realize the end of an old age and the arrival
of a new one as we are moving from industrial civilization to a new civilization. There
are various views as to what defines the new age or civilization and how we should
name it. Two views are worth special attention—the new age or civilization is about
ecology or about information. This paper will compare the two views and briefly
delineate the vision of the new civilization.
1 Ecological Civilization Theory
The first foreign scholar that put forth the idea of ecological civilization was perhaps
professor Iring Fetscher from the Department of Politics of the University of Frankfurt. In the article titled “On the Environment of Human Survival and Dialectics
of Progress” published in 1978, Fetscher said, the expected and allegedly urgently
needed ecological civilization—unlike Schelsky’s technical state—presupposes a
social entity that consciously controls the system. That will materialize in a humanitarian and free manner rather than through an expert team serving a global ecological
autocracy. Today the age of avid aspiration for infinite progress is coming to an end,
and the age when man believes in infinite conquest of nature has come under question. Since a merciful lifestyle featuring peaceful co-existence between man and
nature is completely possible, uninhibited technological progress must be controlled
and restricted. This article by Fetscher marked a milestone in the history of human
thoughts. Targeting a fundamental mistake in modern western thoughts—man can
conquer nature unlimitedly with technological progress, he primarily envisaged the
ecological civilization. Predicting the forthcoming end of the age of avid aspiration
F. Lu (B)
Center for Ecological Civilization, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
© China Environment Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 2021
J. Pan et al. (eds.), Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views
on Eco-civilization Construction, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6742-5_53
535