If we trace the history of ecological civilization in the world, Thomas Berry (1914-2009) is definitely an existence that cannot be ignored. Although he did not explicitly put forward the concept of "ecological civilization", the "Ecozoic" or "Ecozoic Era" proposed by him is highly consistent with the concept of ecological civilization. Therefore, it can be said that Sun Yat-sen University Press has put the book "Selected Writings of the Global Village: Thomas Berry Classic Collection" into the "Ecological Civilization Classic Translation Series". Because as a transcendence of the industrial civilization that uses people as tools, ecological civilization is a civilization that affirms and appreciates life.
When it comes to the concept of "ecological", the author can be regarded as the earliest Chinese scholars to come into contact with this concept. As early as 2002, the author translated the American scholar Herman Green's article "Thomas Burley and His "Ecological Era" (see Qiushi Academic Journal, No. 5, 2002), and also wrote the preface to Professor Li Shiyan's monograph "Towards the Ecological Era" (Liaoning People's Publishing House, 2004), and later contributed to the translation and publication of Berry's masterpiece "The Great Cause" in China (Life, Reading, New Knowledge, 2005). Give people roses, and there is a lingering fragrance in the hand. In the process, Berry's ideas had a considerable impact on me personally, and I benefited a lot. Last year, the editor of this book, Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker of Yale University, who accompanied the editor of this book, Berry Gaozu, came to China for a conference and lecture, and she gifted this book with me. In my opinion, Berry is a process philosopher at heart, a true pioneer of ecological civilization thought.
Looking at the book "Selected Writings of the Global Village: Thomas Berry's Classic Collection" (hereinafter referred to as "Earth"), since the editor Dr. Tucker is a leading figure in the discussion of the ecological dimension of Confucianism, and is a disciple who has followed Berry for decades and deeply understood the essence of his thoughts, it can be said that the essence of Berry's thought is basically included in the book. In my superficial understanding, Berry's core ideas can be summarized as follows: 1) a profound critique of modern Western industrial civilization to help people wake up from obsession, 2) to reveal the reality of the interconnection of all things and develop a sense of sympathy, and 3) to put forward the concept of "eco-epoch" to inspire mankind to devote themselves to the "great cause" of saving the earth and humanity itself.
Abandon the desolate earth
Unlike the proponents of modern industrial civilization, who are bent on eulogizing the glory of industrial civilization, in Berry's view, it is the glorious prosperity of mankind that has led to the abandonment and desolation of the earth. Due to the predatory "exploitation" of industrial civilization, human beings are turning the earth into a new "barren land", and the earth's life system is collapsing, the scale and severity of which can only be compared with the extinction of dinosaurs and countless other species at the end of the Mesozoic Era 67 million years ago and the beginning of the Cenozoic Era now. As a result, "we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction in the history of the planet." (p.31) Berry's answer to those who are still obsessed with industrial civilization is that the bubble of industrialization is disappearing, and it will soon leave humanity in ruins, cold to the bone. "We need to hear the voices of living things on Earth, especially not until it's too late to regret it, not to wait for the rapid extinction of life and the silence of their voices forever. Once a creature becomes extinct, what we hear is their swan song. "Their swan song is actually our own swan song.
According to Tucker's analysis, Berry's understanding of the great changes that the Industrial Revolution brought about to the planet was one of his great insights. In his view, the Cenozoic generation is coming to an end due to the mass extinction caused by humans, and he cites a lot of evidence of the destruction of natural systems, and calls for humans to change their activities, stop destruction and exploitation, and change to a benign coexistence with the earth. Only in this way can the earth be brought into a new period of prosperity, which he calls the "ecological epoch".
Developing a "sense of sympathy"
The so-called "ecological epoch" refers to an epoch after the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras of the earth. Unlike industrial civilization, which sees everything on Earth as a "commodity that can be bought and sold," in the Ecoepoch, humanity will live in a mutually reinforcing relationship with the broad community of life on Earth. This requires human beings to change their worldview and values, from "anthropocentrism" to "geocentrism", and realize that "the universe is the gathering of subjects, not the accumulation of objects", that people are an inseparable part of the universe, that the interconnection of all things is the reality of the universe, and that interdependence is the essence of life, so as to develop a "sense of sympathy". The so-called "consciousness of common destiny" is the realization that we share weal and woe with the earth and all sentient beings bred by the earth, and that we have both losses and prosperity, in the words of Mr. Xu Jialu, that is, "the same fate and common fortune".
Berry's exact words: "If the external world ceases to be magnificent, then the emotional, imaginative, intellectual, and spiritual life of man will be depleted or utterly destroyed." Without the birds that fly freely, without the forests of all trees, without the sounds and colors of insects, without the brooks that run freely, without the fields of flowers, without the clouds of the day and the stars of the night, everything that makes up the human world would be pitifully poor. "It is almost impossible to have healthy people on a sick planet," he stressed. Postmodern thinker Dr. John Cobb Jr., in his speech at the 11th Clermont International Forum on Ecological Civilization, entitled "On a Community with a Shared Future", also said: "In the face of an impending ecological catastrophe, those who are strongly aware of their shared destiny with their neighbors have a much greater chance of surviving than those who lack this awareness." ”
Reinterpreting the human role
In Tucker's view, one of the most important contributions of Berry's thought was its emphasis on the sanctity of man. Berry argues that the role of human beings cannot be limited to "consumers of goods or exploiters of resources", and that in the Ecocene era, we should reinterpret the role of humans on the planet. He stressed that in this "great cause" to save the earth and mankind itself, man shoulders a special great mission. In other words, it is only by participating in the process of saving the planet and oneself that one becomes sacred. Berry, who has traveled to China, particularly appreciates the Chinese Confucian concept of "man is the heart of heaven and earth". In his view, whether our lives are noble or not depends on how we understand and fulfill our responsibilities as the "heart of heaven and earth."
Berry's "great cause" is a comprehensive picture of the ecological epoch. It includes both "building sustainable communities based on renewable energy and green industries, building organic agriculture and food systems, creating livable cities and green mobility systems", and "developing a new language of the ecological epoch to support the new modes of living and operating that are emerging." Because the language of the previous industrial civilization simply could not meet the needs". Take, for example, the redefinition of "progress", which, for to be effective, must be progress in all components of the planet as a whole. In his view, "to call man's plundering of the earth 'progress' is a misinterpretation of progress, and we cannot tolerate such 'progress'" (p. 96).
Berry was convinced that a "great cause" would "bring a new sense of existence and value to humanity." Only by participating in this can humanity make the future hopeful and the entire planetary community hopeful.
Unfortunately, Dr. Berry passed away in 2009, and he did not have the opportunity to see with his own eyes the great cause of 1.4 billion people in the land of China—the construction of ecological civilization. However, his frequent visits to China have given him the opportunity to witness the gratifying achievements of China's ecological civilization construction. From the inclusion of ecological civilization in the party constitution in 2012 and the inclusion of ecological civilization in the constitution in 2018, as well as the "not GDP as a hero", to the revival of traditional ecological culture, rural revitalization, and the growing awakening of ecological consciousness among the Chinese people, she is very excited. In the 2023 Cobb Eco Academy's Ecological Civilization Speech, she clearly expressed her joy.
With the in-depth development of China's ecological civilization construction, China's ecological civilization research and ecological culture research have also become increasingly prosperous, and a large number of books on ecological culture research have been published, some of which are excellent achievements such as Zhang Xiaode's "Ecological Civilization Founding Theory - Awakening China's Subjective Consciousness Towards Ecological Civilization", Zhang Yunfei's "Ethical Demands of Ecological Civilization", Fan Meiyun, Liu Lu and Gao Kaige's "Cobb and China: Intuitive Cobb's Postmodern Ecological Civilization Thought", Wang Yuchen's The Origin of Ecological Civilization Thought and the Thought of Ecological Civilization in Contemporary China" and other works have attracted the attention of the international community.
John Cobb Jr., an academician of the National Academy of Humanities and founding president of the Sino-American Institute for Postmodern Development, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency a few days ago: "The construction of ecological civilization advocated by China is a major contribution to the world in the 21st century. "Although the construction of ecological civilization will not be achieved overnight, and the road to ecological civilization is long and difficult, I believe that over time, China's ecological civilization construction will definitely amaze the world.