On Marxist Ecological Thought

Ecology is the relationship between man and nature.Ecological problem is often misconstrued as environmental problem,but in reality,it represents the breaking-up of man and nature,which occurs at a certain stage of development.Historically,ecological problem is closely connected with the capitalist mode of production,i.e.large-scale industrial production.Therefore,the records of the deterioration of nature at the pre-capitalist time are all environmental problems,rather than ecological problems,which are the novel phenomena of the modern society.The transformations of ecology in the history of thoughts as well as the mechanism of ecological problems should be examined in this issue.The former requires us to trace its origin and development in the history of ecological thought,while the latter demands the study of its causation by industrial society with Marxism.In the first place is the origin and development of ecological thought.The relationship between man and nature has been the concern of different disciplines from different perspectives.This paper will trace the historical development of ecological thought through etymology,scientific tradition as well as the tradition of natural philosophy.In the history of ecological thought,this dissertation traces the origin and development of the ecological view on nature from three aspects,i.e.the concept of ecology,the scientific basis of the ecological view on nature,as well as the philosophical basis of the ecological view on nature.In etymology,the concept of“environment”,an important indicator of the establishment of the binary opposition between man and nature,implies the disintegration of the ancient organic view on nature,while the concept of “ecology”,as a revolt against the binary opposition between man and nature,is the return of the organic wholistic view on nature,endeavoring to reestablish the unity between man and nature.According to the scientific basis of ecological view on nature,there are the two traditions of natural science and humanities.In the tradition of natural science,the development from Natural History to the science of ecology is both a paradigmatic shift and a shift of man’s view on nature.In the tradition of humanities,man’s cognition of nature evolves from awe to endearment to appreciation.The present stage,with its emphasis on the ecological value and esthetic value,is an important change in man’s reflection on society and on himself.According to its philosophical basis,the ecological view on nature is composed of two parts: one is the organic wholistic view,embodied in the philosophy from ancient Greek time to the present,while the other is the split between man and nature,embodied in the thought of Marx and Engels.In the tradition of humanities,the science of ecology marks an important shift in men’s way of thinking over society and over themselves.The esthetic value of nature has been highlighted in the shift from awe to intimacy and finally to the appreciation of nature.In the tradition of natural philosophy,the unknowable nature was mysterious in ancient Greek time and was understood as God’s will in the medieval theology.In the modern times,conquering nature became the primary task of rational society,as people came to know more about nature with the development of science and technology.Thus,with the deepening cognition of nature,man’s concept of nature and the relationship between man and nature have been changing.Throughout history,there have been two conflicting forces: one makes nature the object of human conquest by breaking the connection between man and nature,while the other tries to remedy the rift between man and nature by taking them as a whole.Greatly reinforced the former,the modern capitalist industrial society has increased the rift and opposition between man and nature,accelerating ecological problems.In the second place is the ecological problem in Marxist philosophy.Ecological Marxism innovatively makes use of the theory of Marxism to examine ecological problem,which not only provides a scientific theoretical guidance for the solution of ecological problems,but invigorating Marxist theory with fresh practice.However,each of the different schools of Ecological Marxism only focuses on one particular aspect of Marxist theory,with little contribution to its development.In reality,Marxist theory enjoys natural theoretical advantage in analyzing ecological problems,as it not only criticizes capitalism thoroughly,but also contains systematic ecological thought.Marxist philosophy has double perspectives,i.e.the philosophical perspective and the critical perspective.Philosophy provides the method for the criticism of capitalism,while the latter offers the empirical content for the former.It is this double-perspective that makes the uniqueness of Marxist ecological philosophy.The first is the ontological dimension of Marxist ecological philosophy.Marxist philosophy is the philosophy of practice,which is “man’s sensual activities”.In the practical activities,man and nature form an organic whole.As man transforms himself in transforming nature,they become inseparable in the process.Therefore,the concept of practice in Marxism unifies man and nature,as it indicates both the objectivity of the material world and man’s initiative.However,the advent of industrial society has destroyed this unity,as it constantly breaks the limits of both man and nature with increasing irrational forces,causing the double alienations of man and nature.Ecological problems have finally emerged.The second is the conception of history in Marxist ecological philosophy.Marx turned to political economy for the practical problems,which could not be solved in philosophy and which is the material basis for philosophical reality,so he tried to find out the converging point between the two disciplines.The converging point being the capitalist society,Marx took the UK as the prototype for the study of political economy.Dwelling on the five key concepts of labor,commodity,capital,science and technology as well as machinery,Marx clarified how the relationship between man and nature and between man and man has been successfully replaced by the relationship between object and object,and also how equality in front of law in the democratic society has been submerged by sheer economic exploit in civil society,in which process,nature has retreated from political economy,bringing disastrous ecological consequences in the world dominated by capital.The third is the epistemological dimension of Marxist ecological philosophy.As a philosophy of criticism,Marxist philosophy uncovers the irrationality in capitalist social system and mode of production through systematic study of political economy.The irrationality is in contradiction with both nature’s organic unity and man’s desire for a better society.Thus,to achieve the harmony between man and nature,we have to discard capitalist mode of production and take the route of sustainable development by establishing rational view of progress and making appropriate use of science and technology.Therefore,the relationship between man and nature has been an unavoidable theme throughout human history.Marx made dual criticism on it in political economy and philosophy,revealing the internal unity between man and nature,the violation of which would lead to ecological problems.