English Lecture Series: Chinese Philosophy and the Modern Perspectives

全英文系列讲座：中国哲学与当代视界

Lecture Two: Confucian Environmental Ethics and Climate Justice

第二讲：儒家环境伦理与气候正义

Speaker主讲人：Teng Fei 滕菲

Date日期：09.29, 2022，Thursday 周四

Time时间：14:00-15:30

Place地点：Lide building立德楼0709

Tencent meeting ID腾讯会议ID: 699 4551 8805;

Back up ID备用会议号：810 8525 2846

Bilibili B站直播间ID：22391891

Abstract：

Human activities have profoundly altered the earth system since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Scientists proposed to define a new geological era, the Anthropocene, to describe the increasingly humanized and de-natured natural world. In such a context, the pressing tasks for contemporary environmental ethics are to reconstruct or explore norms and values to confront a set of new questions. In comparing it to the western perspectives, this lecture attempt to introduce Confucianism as a virtue-based approach of environmental ethic. In addition, I hope to explore the alternative position of Confucianism in solving some problematic environmental moral issues raised by climate change.

This lecture consists of three parts: first, it examines the understanding of the human and nature relationship in Confucianism. The inclusive relationship between human and nature is established on a cosmological structure wherein the virtue of shengsheng (life generation) plays a significant role. The second part of this lecture covers the basic principles of Confucianism as a virtue environmental ethic. From principle to practice, in the third part, I will apply the Confucian approach to current climate ethics. The specific character of climate change poses serious challenges to conventional ethical theories. However, Confucianism is capable of providing valuable philosophical justification in the current discourse on intergenerational moral responsibilities.

About the Speaker:

TENG Fei is currently a lecturer in the School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China. She obtained her PhD from Utrecht University, The Netherlands. She is a visiting scholar of Université Catholique de Louvain (2013). Teng directs a research project “A Study of Climate Justice from the Perspective of Ecological Civilization” funded by The National Social Science Fund of China. She also participated in many other international research projects. Her research interests include environmental philosophy, ethics of science and technology and Confucianism.

Host: School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China

主办单位：中国人民大学哲学院