Philosophical Meditation Of Ecological Consumption

Consumption is the eternal topic of human society. Since the beginning of human production, human beings have been using and consuming all materials and energy in nature. Therefore, the relationship between man and nature, in some sense, can also be considered as the matter of consumption, which is the way that human beings exploit and utilize nature through different forms of consumption. Faced with the current global energy crisis and environmental crisis, even though we can not absolutely say that these are caused by human consumption, but human consumption must plays an important role in this. Especially in recent era, with the spread of consumerism, people are excessively intoxicated with meeting their desires continuingly; then they find that when their living standard improves, they are also plunged into unprecedented difficulties. Sick and high-carbon consumption leads to the abnormal development of human civilization and the increasingly serious climate catastrophe. Today, with the global appeal for "low carbon", either from the perspective of the optimal technology path selection for emission reduction, or from the view of the inherent requirements of civilization progress, the change of economy from high-carbon to low carbon requires a revolution in consumption. Therefore, we must conduct in-depth reflection and criticism on human consumption, so as to change the traditional consumption patterns, and find a pattern which is conductive to the development of low-carbon economy, and in which man and nature coordinate with each other, that is, ecological consumption. This paper is consists of three parts:The first chapter states the meaning and nature of ecological consumption. Ecological ethics, sustainable development theory, system theory and ecological crisis are introduced as the basis for proposing ecological consumption. Based on this, a scientific interpretation of the ecological consumption is provided. Besides this, a comparison among ecological consumption, green consumption, and sustainable consumption is made. Moreover, the basic principles of ecological consumption are also introduced.Chapter two conducts an in-depth analysis of several dialectic relationships concerning ecological consumption. Five pairs of categories are analyzed, including main body of consumption and consumption object, consumer spending and saving, self-consumption and other consumption, material consumption and spiritual consumption, and consumption quality and quantity. Ecological consumption is not without internal and external conflicts; only better conflict mitigation and coordination of the relationship between the two sides can help us achieve real ecological consumption. This is exactly the nature of the ecological consumption.The third chapter discusses mainly the ecological consumption practical significance. Ecological consumption as the social development of mankind, a new consumption idea, the enforcement of promoting the healthy development of the social and individual, is the construction of ecological civilization and realize the important contents of the harmonious society.