Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 16

Ethics - Essay Example The Chinese civilization focused on agriculture. Taoism and Confucianism acted as the two main schools of thoughts and Chinese philosophy. The interaction of Chinese civilization with nature has led its people to gain an appreciation and admiration towards nature (Gao, 2012). The Chinese culture highly value nature. The valuing of nature in this culture results from emotional influences. Chinese art such as gardening, landscape painting and poetry has a close relationship with nature. This shows that the pursuit of nature with harmony is a constant event and effort in Chinese cultural practice and philosophy. The Chinese culture views nature as a self-generating process of reproduction and production of life. The Chinese economy heavily relies on manufacturing and exporting, which leads to immense environmental degradation. Additionally, China has made huge investments in the exploitation of natural resources in Asia and African countries. This also leads to massive environmental degradation because of overexploitation. The interactions of Chinese societies with nature are influenced by the concept of chi that plays a crucial role in Chinese philosophy. The concepts of chi and empathy immensely influence the Chinese appreciation of nature. Chinese philosophy views nature as an organic system that is continuously self-generating. The concept of chi is essential in the ethical interaction and appreciation of nature. Chi contains both spiritual and material meaning (Gao, 2012). Cheng Chung-Ying states that chi contains epistemological, metaphysical and scientific theory and aesthetic dimension (Cheng, 1986, 356). Chi has characteristic features that are closely interconnected. These features are creativity, emptiness and continuity. Continuity means that chi is the basic component that makes everything. Therefore, all spaces and things are