The Concept Of Nature And Need Towards Ecological Justice

Ecological issues are one of the most pressing issues facing contemporary human society.Building a beautiful China with ecological civilization has become the basic goal and basic national policy of China’s various institutions.The investigation of ecological issues is not only a practical issue concerning political decision-making and social policy.In its deep conceptual structure,it is also a political philosophical issue about how ecological justice is constructed.In the 1970 s,Canadian scholar William Leiss published two monographs,"The Control of Nature" and "The Limits of Satisfaction".they first systematically elaborated theoretical program of ecological Marxism,and helped us be aware of the so-called ecological problems which are an inevitable result of the contradiction between capitalist mode of production and consumption and the natural environment of the earth for centuries,and the root of this historical process must be traced back to the modernity plan,that is "humanity conquers nature through science and technology to meet its own needs." Hence the examination of ecological issues must be traced back to Marx’s political critique of capitalist production and consumption systems.Because,in essence,the highlight of the ecological problem is the inevitable outcome of the capitalist mode of production,and the ecological crisis itself is the latest historical form of the capitalist crisis.This thesis attempts to investigate the conceptual basis and historical context of Leiss’ Ecological Marxism from Marx’s classic theory of "capitalism crisis",and reveals its philosophical and ideological resources that could inspire the contemporary social transformation process in China.This may provide some theoretical support for the construction of China’s current ecological civilization.The basic point of this thesis is that late capitalism,through its self-adjustment ofsocial structure and life consciousness,has successfully mitigated its structural crisis and internal social conflicts,but it cannot fundamentally change the inherent nature of the infinite expansion of capitalist production methods;We see that late capitalism tries to maintain its economic prosperity and political legitimacy by providing everyone in society with the continuous supply of goods they need.As a result,Marx pointed out that capitalism is inevitable because of its inherent contradictions.The structural crisis of the outbreak has shifted from the production field to the consumption field under different historical conditions in the contemporary era.The specific manifestation is that in the face of limited natural ecology and natural resources of the earth,the existence of late capitalist society will inevitably lead to tension between man and nature,which may lead to a deeper ecological crisis;As the latest form of the capitalist crisis,this ecological crisis will show the last historical boundary of capitalist production.This thesis is divided into three chapters:The first chapter,based on the Marxist standpoint,comprehensively criticizes the inherent contradiction of the concept of controlling nature as the ideology of modern society and then explores a new understanding of the concept of controlling nature.Ecological issues are directly related to the relationship between man and nature.The understanding of this issue is first reflected in the concept of controlling nature.The concept of human control of nature as the ideology of modern society is the deepest source of ecological problems.Although “controlling nature” is not a product of capitalism,it is quite compatible with capitalism.On the one hand,in the capitalist production movement,man and nature are in complete opposition,and nature has completely become a mere useful object of mankind.On the other hand,the bourgeoisie concealed the exploitative nature of the capitalist system by adopting the concept of abstract equal natural power and shaping the control of nature into a collective cause of humanity.Based on the research of Leiss’ s thought,this thesis analyzes the historical evolution of controlling natural concepts into modern social ideology and reveals the inseparable connection between controlling nature and controlling people from the critical perspective of Marx’s class theory,which caninterpret theoretical background of ecological Marxism.As a means of controlling nature,the development of science and technology must be subject to internal conflicts of class differentiation,and it is impossible to be alone in the purpose of the class rule.Only from the standpoint of Marxism can we recognize the inherent contradiction between capitalist production-consumption and the earth’s ecosystem,and only by fundamentally rejecting this long-lasting concept of controlling nature with technology,could a solution to finding a practical way be possible.The second chapter tries to explore a possible alternative architecture in the new context through systematic research on human needs and how to satisfy them in the late capitalist social structure.As a basic feature of late capitalism,the high-intensity market structure completely guides the satisfaction of human needs to the commodity field with high consumer life ideals,which brings a series of social and natural consequences.Under the high-intensity market structure,people’s needs are broken down into small parts,and goods are also broken down into collections of characteristics.In the fragmental interact between the need and goods,the relationship between human needs and means of satisfaction becomes increasingly blurred.Recent need theory attempts to explain the problems of human needs;however,they detached the specific social form and only consider the concept of "needs" as an abstract concept of subjectivity.Faced with the endless real paradox of limited natural resources and human desires,only when the aspect of the subject and object that human needs are fully considered and the ultimate problem of the ability of the earth to support and the social practice characterized by the unsatisfied desire and the concept of unlimited economic growth are incorporated in a unified consideration,with the thinking principle of “Negative Theory of Needs”,is it possible to comprehensively examine the possibility of proposing a new alternative architecture.The third chapter deeply interprets Leiss’ s basic scheme of "easy to survive society" and systematically reflects on the natural concept of this scheme,which is meant to reveal a new understanding of the relationship between man and nature.Human society is an organic part of the Earth’s ecosystem.It is necessary to break through the human-centered mode of thinking and consider the natural needs ofhuman beings to understand the needs of human beings and fully examine the sources of human satisfaction on the basis of respect for natural independence.Linking the consideration of human needs to nature other than human beings is not to construct a new mysticism,but to try to establish a framework of converging and accommodating,so as to avoid the binary opposition between nature and society.An enlightened self-interest principle rethinks the relationship between man and nature and no longer regards nature other than human beings as a means of satisfying human needs.The idea of enlightened self-interest is a new rationalist spirit that views the relationship between man and nature.From this principle,to respect nature is to protect the long-term well-being of mankind.This requires affirming the legal rights of natural entities and creating a set of legal policy conforming to the principle of ecological justice and provides a fair and just platform for rationally solving the disputed interests of people and the environment.In short,in the natural concept of human beings,from the emotional "love" of the "respect for nature" within the ancient ideological background to the rational "hate" of modern science and technology which tend to "conquer the nature",to the reasonable "love" under the new rationalism which appeals to "respect for nature".The path is precisely the development from the affirmation to the denial and then to the negation of the negation.This reflection on the human concept of nature concerning the specific social forms and the concept of a future society conforming to the principles of ecological justice the embodies a realistic critique of the capitalist production movement characterized by a high-intensity market structure.