Ecological education: what resources are there in Confucian ethics?

摘要

Given the fact that ecological issues are global and the fact that a large part of humanity is rooted in the Confucian tradition, it is pertinent to ask what lessons can be learnt from Confucianism, in terms of both ecological education and the current debate in environmental ethics. In this paper I argue that while Confucian ethics cannot, strictly speaking, be said to contain an environmental ethic, its main concepts and ideas do constitute a different level of thinking capable of being exploited as resources for ecological education, if not for solutions to the current environmental crisis. It also has the potential to resolve a dispute in the environmental debate in the West. In particular, I argue that Confucianism is committed to the idea that the environment has a value that, while in a sense connected with humans, is independent of humans. I show that Confucian virtues such as humanity, commitment to harmony, filial piety and so on have positive implications for ecological education.