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J. Pan
1 Ethical Values and Development Goals of Ecological
Civilization
Industrial civilization was based on utilitarian ethical values emphasizing the importance of utility of human beings—or man’s value and well-being—that brings
progress. When dealing with the relationship between man and nature, industrial
civilization advocated that human beings are a master over nature, and ‘all that
are meaningful to humanity’ have ‘value.’ As such, humanity could satisfy all their
needs by exploiting and destroying nature. Also, from a generational perspective, the
ethical values of industrial civilization prioritized the utility of contemporary people,
while ignoring the well-being of future generations and society. Such values lead to
the fact that workers in industrial civilization were deemed economically rational
machinery, with the relationship among people reduced to one based on barter and
money, and that between man and nature becoming one in which the former are
entitled to exploiting the latter for free. “Survival of the fittest” became the norm of
the relationship among people in a dog-eat-dog world, and “anthropocentrism,” the
belief that “each man is the maker of his own fate,” prompted people to relentlessly
conquer nature. In industrial civilization, development goals were to maximize profits
and accumulate wealth as much as possible without considering the outside world or
the unwanted costs caused to others or society. Under the values of industrial civilization, carrying capacity, or the environment’s ability to accommodate a particular
activity without unacceptable impact, was seen as something that could increase with
technological innovation, and there was no need to establish regulations in terms of
tapping natural resources.
Ecological civilization advocates the ethical values of harmony between man and
nature, and emphasizes that people should respect, conform to and preserve nature.
It inherits ancient and traditional Eastern ecological wisdom, draws on the essence
of the Chinese civilization—where “unification of nature and man” is accentuated,
the three realms of Heaven-Earth-Man is established, and the Taoist idea to follow the
laws of nature is adopted—and emphasizes the integration of man and nature, rather
than transforming and conquering nature or the concept that man’s determination will
triumph over nature. Recognizing and respecting the value of nature is the ethical
values of ecological civilization that is based on ecological and social justice, namely,
respect for human rights and fair sharing of natural resources.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Comrade Xi Jinping’s series of
important speeches, special expositions and important instructions on the building of
ecological civilization have enhanced our understanding that ecological civilization is
different from industrial civilization. For example, he proposed the “two mountains”
theory that human civilization evolves around the idea of “harmony between man and
nature, and harmony between the economy and society,” explaining the dialectical
relationship between economic development and ecological environment protection
in the process of comprehensively deepening reform in China. He also emphasized
“ecology priority” that the ecosystem is entitled to. Contrast to economic priority,
this stance provides a criterion for coordinating economic, social, and environmental
J. Pan
1 Ethical Values and Development Goals of Ecological
Civilization
Industrial civilization was based on utilitarian ethical values emphasizing the importance of utility of human beings—or man’s value and well-being—that brings
progress. When dealing with the relationship between man and nature, industrial
civilization advocated that human beings are a master over nature, and ‘all that
are meaningful to humanity’ have ‘value.’ As such, humanity could satisfy all their
needs by exploiting and destroying nature. Also, from a generational perspective, the
ethical values of industrial civilization prioritized the utility of contemporary people,
while ignoring the well-being of future generations and society. Such values lead to
the fact that workers in industrial civilization were deemed economically rational
machinery, with the relationship among people reduced to one based on barter and
money, and that between man and nature becoming one in which the former are
entitled to exploiting the latter for free. “Survival of the fittest” became the norm of
the relationship among people in a dog-eat-dog world, and “anthropocentrism,” the
belief that “each man is the maker of his own fate,” prompted people to relentlessly
conquer nature. In industrial civilization, development goals were to maximize profits
and accumulate wealth as much as possible without considering the outside world or
the unwanted costs caused to others or society. Under the values of industrial civilization, carrying capacity, or the environment’s ability to accommodate a particular
activity without unacceptable impact, was seen as something that could increase with
technological innovation, and there was no need to establish regulations in terms of
tapping natural resources.
Ecological civilization advocates the ethical values of harmony between man and
nature, and emphasizes that people should respect, conform to and preserve nature.
It inherits ancient and traditional Eastern ecological wisdom, draws on the essence
of the Chinese civilization—where “unification of nature and man” is accentuated,
the three realms of Heaven-Earth-Man is established, and the Taoist idea to follow the
laws of nature is adopted—and emphasizes the integration of man and nature, rather
than transforming and conquering nature or the concept that man’s determination will
triumph over nature. Recognizing and respecting the value of nature is the ethical
values of ecological civilization that is based on ecological and social justice, namely,
respect for human rights and fair sharing of natural resources.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Comrade Xi Jinping’s series of
important speeches, special expositions and important instructions on the building of
ecological civilization have enhanced our understanding that ecological civilization is
different from industrial civilization. For example, he proposed the “two mountains”
theory that human civilization evolves around the idea of “harmony between man and
nature, and harmony between the economy and society,” explaining the dialectical
relationship between economic development and ecological environment protection
in the process of comprehensively deepening reform in China. He also emphasized
“ecology priority” that the ecosystem is entitled to. Contrast to economic priority,
this stance provides a criterion for coordinating economic, social, and environmental