Thoughts on the Philosophical Foundation of Ecological …
599
that man cannot continue to enjoy the privilege of plundering land resources out of
individual interests without performing any obligation. They should change from
the role of a land conqueror to a common member of the land community. Keeping
the land community complete, stable and beautiful is the basic moral principle of
human activities. Leopold tried to inspire people’s love and gratitude to land and
motivate them to voluntarily take up the moral responsibility for it, thus establishing
the value of man and nature in harmony and uniformity. His land ethic kicked off
a critical period of the change of environmental ethics as Leopold, from an ethical
point of view, extended morality to the whole natural domain for the first time. Even
though land ethic, in comparison with rigorous ethics and philosophy, is more like
a guideline on environmentalist movement, Leopold is nevertheless known as the
“father of ecological ethics.”
Rolston in the 1980s carried on and developed Kant’s natural teleology and
Schweitzer and Leopold’s ecological ethics, and systematically elaborated on
nature’s intrinsic values. He is the founder of modern environmental ethics.
According to Rolston, the intrinsic value of nature is the value inherent in some
natural scenarios that doesn’t need human reference. All living creatures take their
own kind as good, which means all living things proactively defend their lives and
strive to propagate their species. In the natural ecosystem, the instrumental and
intrinsic values of different species transform and blend, and each living creature has
an intrinsic purposiveness. The emphasis on nature’s intrinsic value is the most basic
differentiation of value, and it doesn’t negate nature’s instrumental value. Rolston
expounded on nature’s intrinsic values to clarify two things. First, nature’s intrinsic
value refers to the inherent purposiveness of ecosystem, which is valuable and meaningful for keeping the ecosystem stable, complete and orderly. It can be divided into
three levels at least—(1) All existences in the ecosystem, including man, have to
observe its rules and norms; (2) Different species in the ecosystem are in a value
relation. They are the subjects and objects, and purposes and means of each other,
and they satisfy each other’s needs while restricting each other as well; (3) There is
also a value relation within the same species, such as that between man and man or
within a natural species. Second, the value relation between man, the subject, and
natural beings, the object, is just one form of value relation. It is not the only form,
much less the most important form in the ecosystem. Man is not the only subject in
value relation, nor are human rules the ultimate norm for value assessment. Rather,
man in a sense has to follow natural rules.
Ecological ethics and values can only affect our living practices after they become
“common sense” in life, when they will urge us to rebuild the value coordinates and
change our way of life to comply with ecological civilization. To that end, we have to
change the current lifestyle. First, we should replace material value with the value of
knowledge and wisdom. Instead of marking personal value and success by extracting
more material wealth from nature, we should pursue the harmonious development
and common evolution, or the “win-win,” of man and nature together. Second, we
should replace excessive consumption with moderate consumption. The excessive
consumption for “flaunting status” or “vanity” largely exceeds the basic needs of
survival. It not only deprives other social members of the necessities they live on, but
599
that man cannot continue to enjoy the privilege of plundering land resources out of
individual interests without performing any obligation. They should change from
the role of a land conqueror to a common member of the land community. Keeping
the land community complete, stable and beautiful is the basic moral principle of
human activities. Leopold tried to inspire people’s love and gratitude to land and
motivate them to voluntarily take up the moral responsibility for it, thus establishing
the value of man and nature in harmony and uniformity. His land ethic kicked off
a critical period of the change of environmental ethics as Leopold, from an ethical
point of view, extended morality to the whole natural domain for the first time. Even
though land ethic, in comparison with rigorous ethics and philosophy, is more like
a guideline on environmentalist movement, Leopold is nevertheless known as the
“father of ecological ethics.”
Rolston in the 1980s carried on and developed Kant’s natural teleology and
Schweitzer and Leopold’s ecological ethics, and systematically elaborated on
nature’s intrinsic values. He is the founder of modern environmental ethics.
According to Rolston, the intrinsic value of nature is the value inherent in some
natural scenarios that doesn’t need human reference. All living creatures take their
own kind as good, which means all living things proactively defend their lives and
strive to propagate their species. In the natural ecosystem, the instrumental and
intrinsic values of different species transform and blend, and each living creature has
an intrinsic purposiveness. The emphasis on nature’s intrinsic value is the most basic
differentiation of value, and it doesn’t negate nature’s instrumental value. Rolston
expounded on nature’s intrinsic values to clarify two things. First, nature’s intrinsic
value refers to the inherent purposiveness of ecosystem, which is valuable and meaningful for keeping the ecosystem stable, complete and orderly. It can be divided into
three levels at least—(1) All existences in the ecosystem, including man, have to
observe its rules and norms; (2) Different species in the ecosystem are in a value
relation. They are the subjects and objects, and purposes and means of each other,
and they satisfy each other’s needs while restricting each other as well; (3) There is
also a value relation within the same species, such as that between man and man or
within a natural species. Second, the value relation between man, the subject, and
natural beings, the object, is just one form of value relation. It is not the only form,
much less the most important form in the ecosystem. Man is not the only subject in
value relation, nor are human rules the ultimate norm for value assessment. Rather,
man in a sense has to follow natural rules.
Ecological ethics and values can only affect our living practices after they become
“common sense” in life, when they will urge us to rebuild the value coordinates and
change our way of life to comply with ecological civilization. To that end, we have to
change the current lifestyle. First, we should replace material value with the value of
knowledge and wisdom. Instead of marking personal value and success by extracting
more material wealth from nature, we should pursue the harmonious development
and common evolution, or the “win-win,” of man and nature together. Second, we
should replace excessive consumption with moderate consumption. The excessive
consumption for “flaunting status” or “vanity” largely exceeds the basic needs of
survival. It not only deprives other social members of the necessities they live on, but