环境伦理学的困境反思与重建

Plight of Environmental Ethics and Its Development Through Reconstruction

环境伦理学的诞生和发展一直是以论争的方式展开:人类中心论与非人类中心论之争虽然催生出许多新观念和新理论,但都属于外部性探讨,因而使之陷入当前的"高原"困境。这种困境形成的根本原因有二:一是有意或无意割裂、抛弃伦理学传统,使之无本;二是忽视原理的探讨和构建,使之无根。要真突围这一"高原"困境,必须重新定位环境伦理学的自身性质、内涵及其属性,并在此基础上着力解决"环境道德的基础何在"和"环境道德的边界何在"这两个根本问题,重新续接人类已有的伦理传统,构建环境伦理的自然原理和实践规范原则体系。具体来讲,环境伦理学必须突破人类中心论的虚妄认知,重新发现原本就存在的自然原理即宇宙律令、自然法则、生命原理,它为重新释放人类伦理传统的当代光辉奠定了本体性基石,提供了认知和方法动力。人类伦理传统即人性原理,它以生命原理为基础,以宇宙律令为指南,以自然法则为源泉,展开为道德作为或美德追求。从本质上讲,美德是求义的,所以美德追求必须遵守舍利执爱原理,其激励原则是无私奉献和自我牺牲;而道德是求利的,所以道德作为必须遵守权责对等原理,它统摄四条环境伦理法则,即环境与人共生的关联法则、环境与人相向敞开的价值生成法则、人顺性适应环境的生存法则和人向环境取予的平等成本支付法则。以此四条环境伦理法则为规范,人们在走向环境生境重建的进程中,必须做到凡事利己不损它或利己亦利它。

Environmental ethics has emerged and developed with controversy. Although giving rise to many new ideas and theories, the debate between anthropoeentrism and non-anthropoeentrism, the external discussion, has put environmental ethics in the current ＂plateau＂ dilemma. This dilemma results from two aspects. First, the tradition of ethics has been intentionally or unintentionally split and abandoned, and so it has lost its basis. Second, the study and construction of principles have been neglected, and so it has been rootless. To break through the ＂plateau＂ dilemma, the nature, connotation and properties of the environmental ethics should be redefined. On this basis, two fundamental questions, ＂where the foundation of environmental ethics is laid＂ and ＂where the boundary of environmental ethics lies＂, should be answered to continue the existed ethics tradition, and construct the natural principle and practical norms of environmental ethics. Specifically, the false cognition of anthropocentrism should be abandoned and some natural principles should be rediscovered, namely the cosmic laws, the natural law, and the principle of life, which lays the ontological foundation for ethical tradition to release the contemporary glory and provides power in cognition and approach. Human ethical tradition refers to the principle of human nature, which takes the principle of life as the basis, the cosmic law as the orientation, and the law of nature as the origin, and presents itself as moral conduct and virtue pursuit. Essentially, virtue is based on justice, and so we must abide by the principle of upholding-love-instead-of-interests while pursuing virtues, with selfless dedication and self sacrifice as the incentive; however, moral is based on interests, and so we must comply with the principle of reciprocity of power and responsibility when implementing moral conducts, which contains four environmental ethics rules,namely, the association rule of symbiosis of environment and human, value generation rule of the mutual opening between environment and human, survival rule of human＇ s accommodation with environment and the rule of equality between cost and payment in human＇s exploitation of environment. With the four environmental ethics rules as the norm, people should benefit themselves and others as well; if not, people mustn＇t harm others when benefiting themselves in the process of reconstructing the environment and the habitat.