The Pandemic, Ecological Justice, and Zhu Xi’s Philosophy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2022.10.1.317-343Keywords:
pandemic, ecological justice, deep ecology, investigation of things, self-realizationAbstract
COVID-19 has brought many changes to society and encouraged mankind to reflect on its civilization. The pandemic has revealed that our health care systems and community solidarity are far more fragile than we believed. It made us rethink the solidarity of human civilization and community, and more fundamentally, reconsider the global ecosystem beyond human society. This paper claims that COVID-19 was an inevitable result of the anthropocentric perspective, and argues that it is necessary to change the perception to an ecological worldview and practice ecological justice in order to solve this situation. First, it analyses the ecological reasons for the regular outbreak of zoonotic diseases, including COVID-19, and then it examines Naess’s deep ecology with regard to a fundamental change of perception, but also finds several weaknesses in this. Third, this paper focuses on Zhu Xi’s philosophy in order to compensate for the weaknesses of deep ecology. It argues for the importance of human roles and obligations in relation to the safety and health of the environment based on his philosophy, and explains ecological justice by applying his social equality theory to ecology. Finally, it sheds new light on Zhu Xi’s theory of investigation of things (gewu 格物) as a practical way of implementing ecological justice.
Downloads
References
Barnhill, David. 2001. “Relational Holism: Huayan Buddhism and Deep Ecology.” In Deep Ecology and World Religion, edited by David Barnhil, and Roger Gottlieb, 77–106. New York: SUNY Press.
Berry, Thomas. 1988. The Dream of the Earth. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Chan, Wing-tsit. 1963. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Chase, Steve, ed. 1991. Defending the Earth: A Dialogue between Murray Bookchin and Dave Foreman. Boston: South End Press.
Chen, Lai 陳來. 2020. “Lun gudian ruxuezhong yi gainian 論古典儒學中‘義’槪念 (Discussion of the Concept of Justice in Ancient Confucianism).” Wen Shi Zhe (文史哲) 381: 5–21.
Cheng, Hao 程顥, and Cheng Yi 程頤. 1981. ErChengji 二程集 (The Complete Works of Master Two Cheng). Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.
Choi, Jaecheon 최재천. 2020. “Saengtae wa Ingan 생태와 인간 (Ecology and Human).” In Corona Sapiens 코로나사피엔스, edited by Jeong Gwan-gyong 정관용, 14–43. Seoul: Influential.
Desjardin, Joseph R. 2013. Environmentchanal Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy, 5th edition. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.
Devall, Bill, and George Sessions. 1985. Deep Ecology. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books.
Ha, Seungwoo 하승우. 2020. “Covid19 Pandemic ihueui sarm gwa saetaesahoijueui 코로나19 팬데믹 이후의 삶과 생태사회주의 (Our Lives after COVID-19 Pandemic, and Eco-Socialism).” Munhak gwa gwahak 103: 97–116.
Hong, Wok-sik. 2011. “Confucianism, Korean Confucianism, and Ecological Discourse.” Acta Koreana 14 (2): 15–40.
Humber, Lee. 2020. “What makes a disease go viral?” Socialist Review 455 (March 2020). Accessed September 15, 2021. https://socialistreview.org.uk/455/what-makes-disease-go-viral.
Im, Shinjae 임신재. 2006. Dongmul haengdonghak 동물행동학 (Animal Ethology). Seoul: Sallim.
Ivanhoe, Philip J. 1991. “A Happy Symmetry: Xunzi’s Ethical Thought.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 59 (2): 309–22.
Jeong, Seokchan 정석찬. 2020, “Hana eui geongang, hana eui segye: Gihubyeonhwa wa insugongtong gamyeombyeong 하나의 건강, 하나의 세계: 기후변화와 인수공통감염병 (One Heath and One World: Climate Change and Zoonosis).” In Postcorona Sahoi 포스트코로나사회 (Postcorona Society), edited by Kim Suryeon 김수련, 205–23. Seoul: Geulhangari.
Kalton, Michael C. 1998. “Extending the Neo Confucian Tradition: Question and Reconceptualization for the Twenty-First Century.” In Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Berthrong, 77–101. Massachusetts: Center for the Study of World Religions.
Keenan, Barry C. 2018. “Reverence and Cheng-Zhu Ecology.” ReserchGate, June 27, 2018. 17:187-201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-018-9600-3.
Kim, Changyeop 김창엽. 2020. “Sahoijeokin geoteuroseo COVID-19: Gwahakgwa Jeongchi saieseo 사회적인 것으로서 코로나: 과학과 정치 사이에서 (COVD-19 as Social Thing: Between Science and Politics).” In Postcorona Sahoi 포스트코로나사회 (Postcorona Society), edited by Kim Suryeon 김수련, 107–25. Seoul: Geulhangari.
Kong, Yingda 孔穎達. 1999. “Liji Zhengyi 禮記正義 (The Correct Meanings of The Book Rites).” In Shisanjing Zhushu 十三經注疏 (Thirteen Classics Explanatory Notes and Commentaries), edited by Li Xueqin李學勤, vol. 6. Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe.
Kuwako, Toshio. 1998. “The Philosophy of Environmental Correlation in Chu Hsi.” In Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Berthrong, 151–68. Massachusetts: Center for the Study of World Religions.
Lovelock, James. 2000. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Meng, Peiyuan 蒙培元. 2010. “Hewei gewu? Weihe gewu? 何爲格物? 爲何格物? —— 從格物說看朱熹哲學生態觀 (What and for What is ‘Studying the Nature of Things?’——The Eco-philosophic View of Zhu Xi upon ‘Studying the Nature of Things’).” Quanzhou Shifan Xueyuanbao 泉州師範學院報 28: 1–5.
Naess, Arne.1989. Ecology, Community and Lifestyle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———. 1995. “Equality, Sameness, and Rights.” In Deep Ecology for the 21st Century, edited by George Sessions, 222–24. Boston: Shambhala Publication.
———. 1998. “The Deep Ecological Movement: Some Philosophical Aspects.” In Environmental Philosophy: From Animal Right to Radical Ecology, edited by Michael E. Zimmerman, 193–211. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
———. 2005. “Self-Realization: An Ecological Approach to Being in the World.” In The Selected Works of Arne Naess, edited by Harold Glasser, and Alan Drengson, vol. X, 515–30. Dordrecht: Springer.
Quammen, David. 2012. Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Ro, Young-chan. 1998. “Ecological Implication of Yi Yulgok’s Cosmology.” In Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Berthrong, 169–86. Massachusetts: Center for the Study of World Religions.
Rošker, Jana S. 2021. “Chinese Philosophy of Life, Relational Ethics and the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Asian Philosophy 31 (1): 64–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/09552367.2020.1863624.
Taylor, Rodney L. 1998. “Companionship with the World, Roots and Branches of a Confucian Ecology.” In Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Berthrong, 37–58. Massachusetts: Center for the Study of World Religions.
Tu, Weiming. 1998. “Beyond the Enlightenment Mentality.” In Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Berthrong, 3–21. Massachusetts: Center for the Study of World Religions.
Tucker, Mary Evelyn, and John Berthlong. 1998. “Introduction: Setting the Context.” In Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Berthrong, xxxv–xlv. Massachusetts: Center for the Study of World Religions.
Tucker, Mary Evelyn, and John Grim. 1998. “Series Foreword.” In Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Berthrong, xv–xxxi. Massachusetts: Center for the Study of World Religions.
UNEP (UN Environmental Programme). 2020. “Six Nature Facts Related Coronaviruses.” UNEP, April 8, 2020. Accessed September 2, 2021. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/six-nature-facts-related-coronaviruses.
Wang, Shouren 王守仁. 2010. Wang Yangming Quanshu 王陽明全書 (The Complete Works of Wang Yangming). Taipei: Zhengzhong shuju.
Weston, Anthony. 2004. “Multicentrism: A Manifesto.” Environmental Ethics 26 (1): 25–40.
White, Lynn. 1967. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis.” Science 155: 1203–07.
Wing-chit, Chan 陳榮捷. 1963. A Source Book of Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Zhu, Xi 朱熹. 1986. Zhuzi Yulei 朱子語類 (Zhu’s Classified Sayings). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
–––––. 2002. Zhuzi Quanshu 朱子全書 (The Complete Works of Zhu Xi). Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe.
–––––. 2003. Sishuzhangju Jizhu 四書章句集注 (A Collection of Comments on Sentences and Phrases in Four Books). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Seongmin HONG

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors are confirming that they are the authors of the submitting article, which will be published (print and online) in journal Asian Studies by Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia). Author’s name will be evident in the article in journal. All decisions regarding layout and distribution of the work are in hands of the publisher.
- Authors guarantee that the work is their own original creation and does not infringe any statutory or common-law copyright or any proprietary right of any third party. In case of claims by third parties, authors commit their self to defend the interests of the publisher, and shall cover any potential costs.
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.