环境伦理学的现代建构及其发展趋势

Construction and Development Trends of Modern Environmental Ethics

伦理学是一门探讨伦理和道德的古老学科。在古代社会和许多非西方文化传统中,思考人与自然的关系曾经是伦理学的一种重要使命。然而,受机械论自然观和二元论的影响,近现代西方的主流伦理学却忽视了人与自然关系的伦理维度,甚至否认人对自然本身负有的伦理义务。在许多哲学家看来,这是导致现代环境危机的重要根源之一。因而,从伦理学的角度重新思考人对自然的伦理义务,就成为了新兴的环境伦理学的重要使命。梳理环境伦理学的现代建构历程及其发展趋势,不仅有助于扩展人们的理论视野和思维框架,还有助于我们建构适宜于思考人对自然之伦理义务的理论框架。

Ethics is a traditional discipline exploring ethics and morals. In ancient societies and some non-western cultural traditions, pondering over the relationship between men and nature was once an important mission of ethics. However, due to the mechanistic view of nature and the dualism of modern western ethics, the mainstream of modem ethics has been ignoring the ethical dimension of human-nature relationship, and even denying human＇s ethical obligations towards nature. In many philosophers＇ opinion, this may be one of the major roots of modem environmental crisis. Thus, to reflect human＇s ethical obligations towards nature from an ethical perspective has become an important mission of the emerging environmental ethics. A summary to the modern construction process and developing trend of environmental ethics will not only expand our horizon and thinking, but also help to construct a theoretical framework for reflecting human＇s ethical obligations towards nature.