Pragmatism In American Environmental Protection

In the twentieth century environmental deterioration has come to unparalleled dimensions in the civilized times, which leads to great suffering of human beings. In the meantime, environmental protection has attracted a lot of attention throughout the world. Certainly, this problem is waiting to be solved; however, there is no final formula for it. The reason is that the complexity of this problem is intensified by cultural identities characteristic of each nation. Therefore, the environmental problem asks for the exploration of the cultural identity to ensure a proper solution.Based on this understanding, this thesis attempts to find out how pragmatism, one of the cultural identities of America, is reflected in environmental protection and what effect it has on the latter.The thesis is composed of five parts.The chapter of Introduction describes briefly the current environmental condition on the global basis, and presents the main idea of this thesis.Chapter One deals with American environmental protection in American cultural background, as well as the environmental progress in America.Chapter Two is mainly concerned with American pragmatism, its spiritual sources and three major representatives. The latter part of this chapter probes pragmatic characteristics in American life.Chapter Three discusses how pragmatism, being economy-oriented, is reflected in American environmental protection and makesan assessment of the positive and negative effects pragmatism has on American environmental protection.Chapter Four focuses on the significance of reviewing American environmental protection from the perspective of pragmatism, and outlines the lessons China can get from American pragmatic environmental protection.