As a developing discipline, it may develop in two different aspects, one is the philosophical and aesthetic thinking of human existence, and the other is the experience and aesthetic discussion of human ecological environment. But no matter what the focus is, as a branch of aesthetics, we should take the ecological aesthetic relationship between man and nature and between man and environment as the research object.
Ecological aesthetics is an organic combination of ecology and aesthetics. In fact, it studies aesthetic problems from the direction of ecology and absorbs important ecological viewpoints into aesthetics, thus forming a brand-new aesthetic theoretical form. Ecological aesthetics in a broad sense includes the ecological aesthetic relationship between man and nature, society and man himself, which is a contemporary existential aesthetics in line with ecological laws. It came into being after 1980s, when ecology had made great progress and penetrated into other disciplines. Around 1994, China scholars put forward the topic of ecological aesthetics. At the end of 2000, China scholars published a monograph on ecological aesthetics, which indicated that ecological aesthetics had entered a more systematic and in-depth discussion in China.
Eco-aesthetics came into being under the post-modern economic and cultural background. So far, human society has experienced primitive tribal times, early civilized farming times, modern industrial times dominated by scientific and technological rationality, and post-modernism dominated by information industry. The so-called post-modernism is marked by the integration of economic information industry and knowledge. Culturally it is divided into deconstruction and construction. Post-modernism of architecture is a kind of transcendence and construction based on reflection on modernity. The reflection of modern society is the coexistence of advantages and disadvantages. The so-called benefit is that modernization has greatly promoted the development of society. The so-called disadvantages are serious crises that endanger human survival in the process of modernization. From the appearance of "alienation" in the early stage of industrialization, to the nuclear threat of the Second World War, to the environmental crisis after the 1970s, and then to the fierce conflict between economy and culture caused by the current imperialist expansion marked by "9. 1 1". In a word, the living condition of human beings has become a very urgent problem. China is in a period of modernization in economy, but in culture, modernity and postmodernism coexist, and postmodernism has emerged. This is not only because of the international influence, but also because of China's own problems, such as market fetishism, excessive instrumental rationality, serious environmental pollution and the spread of mental illness. This reality calls for the birth of ecological aesthetics related to human survival.
Ecological aesthetics is based on contemporary ecological existentialism philosophy. Although ecology was put forward by German biologist haeckel in 1866, it belongs to natural science. From 65438 to 0973, the Norwegian philosopher Alan Nais put forward deep ecology, which realized the combination of empirical research in natural science and world outlook exploration in humanities and formed the philosophy of ecological ontology. This new philosophical theory breaks through the mechanical world view of the binary opposition between subject and object and puts forward a systematic and holistic world view; Oppose "anthropocentrism" and advocate the coordination and unity of "man-nature-society"; Oppose the theory that nature has no value and put forward the view that nature has independent value. At the same time, environmental rights and moral principles of sustainable survival are put forward.
The emergence of ecological aesthetics is of great significance. First, it has formed and enriched the aesthetics of contemporary ecological ontology. Compared with the traditional existentialist aesthetics represented by Sartre, this aesthetic has made a breakthrough in the scope of existence, internal relations, the perspective of observing existence and the aesthetic value connotation of existence. It is an aesthetic theory, which overcomes the limitations and negative aspects of traditional ontology aesthetics and is more holistic and constructive. It absorbs various ecological principles into aesthetics and becomes a famous "green principle" in aesthetic theory. Secondly, the famous literary eco-criticism method is derived. Since the mid-1990s, this ecological criticism method has been greatly developed. It advocates a systematic holistic view and opposes "anthropocentrism"; Advocating social responsibility and opposing environmental pollution; Advocate realism and oppose distortion and abuse of nature. Become an important perspective of literary criticism. Thirdly, it promotes the development of ecological literature. The so-called ecological literature is a green literature that eulogizes the harmony, life and existence between man and nature with the relationship between man and nature as the theme. Finally, it is beneficial to inherit and carry forward China's traditional ecological aesthetic wisdom, mainly the Taoist thought of "harmony between man and nature" and the Yi-ology theory of "praise of yin and yang".
Of course, ecological aesthetics is still in the process of formation, just a developing aesthetic theory form, and does not have the characteristics of the discipline. In the face of western contemporary ecological existentialism philosophy, we need to further clean up the criticism. In particular, some theorists tend to lead "existence" to the mysterious "God", as well as "the return of the world", the "inner spirit" of nature and independent aesthetic value, and how to correctly treat modernization and modern science and technology. Adhere to the dialectical materialism and historical materialism of Marxism as the guidance to analyze, clean up and critically inherit it.
The disciplinary basis of ecological aesthetics
In 1990s, China scholars put forward the concept of "ecological aesthetics" and held several large-scale academic seminars. The discussion on ecological aesthetics has become one of the theoretical hotspots in the field of aesthetics, and its subject orientation has always been controversial. In my opinion, ecological aesthetics is a branch of aesthetics, not from the perspective of ecology or aesthetics. So, how does ecological aesthetics become a branch of aesthetics? Is there any internal connection between aesthetics and ecology? What is the foundation of ecological aesthetics? This paper attempts to discuss this issue.
First, the establishment of a discipline must have its specific research object, special research terms and research methods. The research object of ecological aesthetics should be the intersection of ecological and aesthetic research objects, that is, the harmonious relationship between man and nature.
Ecology studies the relationship between biology and its environment, while aesthetics studies the aesthetic relationship between man and reality (nature, society and art). The combination of ecology and aesthetics lies in the harmony between man and nature. Ecology studies the relationship between species, including the harmony between human beings and their environment and other species. The harmony between man and nature is also the research object of aesthetics, because the relationship between man and things in aesthetic experience is an emotional agreement that transcends all interests and gains.
Ecological aesthetics not only studies the harmonious relationship between man and nature, but also studies the harmonious relationship between man and himself. The relationship between man and himself is a very important dimension in the pre-Qin thoughts of ancient Greece and China. In ancient Greece, "caring for yourself" was as important as "knowing yourself". The Pythagorean school's "purification" is to achieve double purification of body and mind by enjoying music and watching the starry sky. In the pre-Qin period, China's "being wary" and "forgetting to sit" reached the realm of being with heaven and earth through detached cultivation. Being kind to yourself and being kind to everything are complementary. If you have no ecological awareness of your life, it is difficult to treat everything well.
Secondly, from the disciplinary nature, the ultimate goal of ecological aesthetics lies in aesthetics, and the ultimate foundation of aesthetics lies in philosophy, that is to say, we must find its philosophical foundation for ecological aesthetics. We might as well go back to the original point before the division between humanities and natural sciences, and start with the generation of everything (including people's own generation) to find the logical starting point for the establishment of ecological aesthetics. China's Zhouyi and Taoism, pre-Socratic philosophy in ancient Greece, Upanishads in India and other early human philosophy and religious classics all contain the idea of creating everything. Laozi's Tao Te Ching says, "Tao gives birth to one, two, three and everything", which means that man and everything are homologous, that is, Tao. Zhuangzi's "Heaven and earth coexist with me, and everything and I are one" is not only an aesthetic portrait of the distinction between things and me, but also a natural philosophy of the unity of things and me. Man and everything are isomorphic, homologous, Taoist or divine, which is the philosophical basis of ecological aesthetics. First of all, people exchange energy with everything. People need sunshine, water, air and food. If these are polluted and destroyed, it will inevitably hurt human beings themselves. The continuation of human life is inseparable from nature at all times, so human beings should save energy and reduce pollution. Secondly, people exchange information with everything. Man and everything are of the same origin, and man and everything are born together. Both human body reflection mode and emotional reflection mode occur and develop in the process of * * * and everything, not just the result of human transforming nature. Third, the aesthetic relationship between man and everything. In the aesthetic experience, the relationship between man and everything can't be the relationship between subject and object, but the relationship between me and you. It goes without saying that there is great beauty in heaven and earth, and the sexual relationship between man and everything is particularly obvious in aesthetic experience. Everything in heaven and earth born of Tao is harmonious. The prosperity of everything is bound to make people feel happy, and the destruction and decline of everything is bound to make people feel sad. From the generation of human beings and everything, we can not only find the disciplinary basis of ecological aesthetics, but also find the disciplinary basis of ecological ethics.
Taoist philosophy contains the idea of ecological protection. "Doing nothing" means conforming to nature and not doing anything against nature, which is not only against the nature of things, but also against human nature. Tao gives birth to all things and cares about all things, that is, "Tao gives birth to animals" as I said. What needs attention is "moral animals" rather than "man and beast". If human beings do not have such a sense of inaction, then the act of protecting nature is likely to evolve into an invasion of nature rather than protection. The true love of human beings for birds is to let them fly freely in nature, not to take good care of them in cages. The greatness of mankind lies not in the ability to conquer nature, but in the ability to truly protect it. This gesture is modest, even awe-inspiring, and comes from awe of the magical power of the creator. This gesture is joyful and full of admiration for the perfect order of the world.
Thirdly, the aesthetic relationship between man and everything discussed by modern western aesthetics (inter-subjective relationship) is consistent with the view of modern ecology that man and everything are interdependent. Modern aesthetics represented by Heidegger and Gadamer opposes traditional epistemological aesthetics. First of all, epistemological aesthetics understands the relationship between man and aesthetic object as the relationship between subject and object. Modern aesthetics believes that in aesthetic experience, the object has perception and emotion and can communicate with people's mind, so the relationship between aesthetic subject and aesthetic object is not the relationship between subject and object, but the relationship between subject and subject. Secondly, traditional aesthetics put perceptual knowledge and rational knowledge, abstract thinking and logical thinking in opposition, thinking that only the latter involves truth, while modern aesthetics thinks that they come down in one continuous line, thinking contains sensibility, and art reveals truth.
Fourthly, in terms of research methods, ecological aesthetics may introduce natural science methods, but what is more fundamental is humanistic science methods, such as the experience, expression and understanding of modern hermeneutics. Mathematics can provide us with accurate figures, such as the number and distribution of some species, so that we can have an intuitive understanding of the ecological situation, but mathematics can not solve the problem of ecological aesthetics. Zhuangzi experienced the pleasure of fish swimming in the water, and the body of modern people felt the pain of extinction of Tibetan antelope, which can only be experienced and explained, and cannot be proved by scientific experiments.
Fifth, the disadvantages brought by modern science and technology make the study of ecological aesthetics put on the agenda. The disadvantages brought by modern technology, such as resource exhaustion, land desertification and environmental pollution, are only the results, and the fundamental reason lies in the hostility between modern technology and ecology. When analyzing the etymology of "technology", Heidegger pointed out that the original intention of "technology" in ancient Greece was "enlightenment", and technology, like art, was a way to uncover the truth, while modern technology violated its original intention and became a kind of "urging". It is not that modern technology has become something that people can't control today, but that modern technology is inherently uncontrollable. It uproots people from the earth. Modern technology not only causes the imbalance of ecosystem and threatens the survival of other species, but also strips away the harmonious relationship between man and nature and devalues everything as a resource. Under the influence of modern science and technology, mankind not only regards nature as the storage of energy, but also separates people from their own origin. In this case, aesthetics has become a way to fight against ecological crisis and alienation of human nature.
In the history of human civilization, the conquest of nature and the conflict between man and nature have never stopped. The development of modern science and technology makes the relationship between man and nature more tense. The study of ecology has aroused people's concern about the relationship between man and nature, but this kind of effort can only alleviate the contradiction and cannot be solved once and for all. Only in the aesthetic relationship between man and nature can man and nature achieve complete reconciliation. Only in the voice of Obis can the lamb and the lion be reconciled; Only in the aesthetic experience can Sisyphus, who was punished by hard labor, realize the meaning of life. Therefore, the world established by ecological aesthetics is a meaningful world full of hopes and dreams, and an ideal world in which everything is harmonious. Such a world may never come true, but it keeps us awake, takes a critical attitude towards the disadvantages of reality, and gives the human mind a place to live.