On the Philosophical and Religious Roots of Constructive Political Agendas:

A reflection on the Western concept of “climate change”

as opposed to the Chinese vision of an “ecological civilization”

 

Clara H. Whyte

Economist & Political Scientist

Executive Director, Paideia Mundi

clara.whyte@paideiamundi.org

 

Abstract presented to:

Political Studies Association’s annual conference

University of York

April 10th-13th, 2022

 

A rapid look at the current geopolitical scene will show a rising China facing a collapsing Western world.  It is most relevant and urgent for us as Westerners to question how we have come to this point, not in a negative and revengeful fashion toward China, which would be both destructive and useless, but rather in a self-critical manner.  How did we get from being a productive and creative civilization to a fatalistic and decaying one, more concerned with deadly materialistic objectives than with constructive ones?

One area on which we might want to focus our attention to understand this issue is the environmental area.  As far as the environmental political agenda is concerned, the Western world basically comes up with the apocalyptic vision of upcoming and almost unavoidable climate change that will kill or displace millions of people globally, using it as an excuse to take kids out of school, promote low birth rates and a falling living standard.

China, on the other hand, has developed and promotes the concept of “ecological civilization” (Shengtai Wenming 生态文明)[1] that proposes to refocus our attention on qualitative life-standard improvements rather than quantitative ones.  This concept offers an inspirational vision of the future in which, while fighting environmental challenges, new healthier and happier communities will be built, cities will be made greener and more livable, ecological agricultural practices will ensure people’s food supply in a sustainable way, etc.  A very important feature of the concept of ecological civilization is that it relies on the large-scale mobilization of ancient religious and philosophical movements[2], from Daoism and Buddhism to Confucianism.  Hence, contrary to what happened under Mao, the latter are being strongly encouraged and promoted as a way of fighting social anomie[3] and modern desperation, and putting people back on the path of a positive and constructive vision for the future. In fact, a society can only work and be successful and productive if it relies on a positive set of common values[4] for the future that helps it focus its energies on common constructive projects.

In this presentation, I shall first get back to the roots of the current Western crisis which I will show results from the collapse of its traditional worldview (both religious and philosophical)[5].  I shall then show how that reflects in its mostly deadly environmental political agenda, and how the latter stands in sharp opposition with the Chinese concept of “ecological civilization”, hypothesizing that those differences of approaches are at the root of the current geopolitical reshuffling, and this not only in terms of “soft power”.  Finally, I shall come down with some proposals on how the Western world could get out of its destructive lethargy, and get back on the track of positivity and constructiveness by using its own traditional philosophical and religious heritage to build up inspirational future-oriented political agendas, of which environmental policies are only one aspect.

 

Clara H. Whyte is an economist and a political scientist. She holds two Master’s degrees, including one from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po Paris). She has been working in her field for more than 20 years in Canada and internationally. She speaks fluently French, English, Portuguese and Spanish. She also has an advanced level in German and in Mandarin Chinese (HSK 5). What’s more, she is learning Quechua (the most widely spoken Indigenous language in the Americas). She is the Executive Director of Paideia Mundi, a non-profit organization dedicated to putting forward an ethics of political thought and action that is respectful of all human and living beings on the planet, this thanks to the promotion of world cultures and humanities. Very well versed in political philosophy, she currently focuses her research on the issues surrounding ethical leadership and political regimes.

[1] http://en.qstheory.cn/2020-05/25/c_494972.htm

[2] Schönfeld M., Chen X..- « Daoism and the Project of an Ecological Civilization or Shengtai Wenming 生态文明”, Religions 2019, 10, 630; doi:10.3390/rel10110630

[3] Durkheim E..- Le suicide – Étude de sociologie, Felix Alcan Éditeur, Paris : France, 1897, 462 p.

[4] Tocqueville A..- La démocratie en Amérique, La Pléiade, Gallimard, Paris : France, 2004

[5] Vervaeke J., Mastropietro C., Miscevic F..- Zombies in Western Culture – A Twenty-First Century Crisis, Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2017, 93 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0113 ; Fromm E.- The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, NewYork: USA, 1973, 521 p.

 

 

 

 

Call for Proposals:

Political Theory, Public Ethics, Citizenship and Leadership

 

Context

Paideia Mundi is a think tank that focuses its research on political theory, public ethics, citizenship and leadership.

As a part of our activities, we organize regular webinars aimed at scholars, political leaders and informed citizens related to our research topics.

Invitation

In this context, we would like to invite scholars, including graduate students, working on subjects related to public ethics, citizenship and leadership to submit proposals to participate in a series of webinars that shall take place every two weeks from October 2021 until June 2022.

Participation will require that speakers submit their paper one month prior to their intervention. The paper should be fit for the 20-25 minute talk which will be followed by a 10-15 minute question period.

Potential Topics

Proposals may focus, but are not restricted to the following topics:

  • What values should citizens and leaders prioritize in the Anthropocene era?
  • What does it mean to be a good citizen or a good leader?
  • How does good citizenship or leadership relate to the political regime?
  • What type of education is required to raise ethical and informed citizens and leaders?
  • How does technological progress impact leadership or citizenship?
  • How can leaders/citizens ensure that science and technology work for the common good?
  • How can leaders and citizens ensure that public policies aim at the common good, including that of other living beings and of the environment?
  • Should our societies review the way they relate to other living beings and the environment? Why and how?
  • Etc.

 

Submission Process

Participation in our webinars in free of charge.

To be considered to participate in one of our webinars, please send a 500-word abstract with a short biography and your contact information by Friday, September 17, 2021 at: contact@paideiamundi.org

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

Living in Accordance with Nature as a Guide to Living Virtuously

Daoism Origins

Sometime during the 6th century BCE, China was in turmoil after the disintegration of the ruling Zhou Dynasty, finding itself in a state of warfare. During this time, the change bred a new social class of magistrates and administrators, all of whom concerned themselves with political philosophy and developing strategies on how to effectively rule.

Elsewhere in the Western part of the world, the prominence of philosophy in Ancient Greece was so strong that it carried over to the East. Inspired by Greek philosophy, Chinese philosophy took on a more encompassing role, one that not only engaged itself with the political, but also matters concerning the nature of the universe and the attainment of stability in an ever-changing world. This eventually paved the rise of discussions about morality and ethics, as we will see Daoism bridging the gap between what exists, and how we ought to act.

Daoism in a Nutshell

Although Daoism doesn’t name its tradition from a founding thinker like many schools that come after it, the philosopher Laozi is Daoism’s best-known proponent along with his work, the Daodejing (in English, ‘The Way and its Power’). The text is one of the first attempts to propose how we can rule justly through virtuous living, which we attain by following dao (The ‘Way’). Here we’re able to see how the ancient Chinese applied their views of an ever-changing world to dao. Their philosophy goes something like this: we see the world as harbouring things with many different states, like weather and temperature, tall and short. All these different states that exist are the collective manifestations that make up the world, and we as human beings are a part of the collection.

However, human beings are a particular case. Because we have desires and free will, we can stray away from the dao and disturb the harmonious balance of the world. Thus, Laozi proposes that we can only maintain dao through wu wei (in English, ‘non-action’). By this, Laozi doesn’t mean ‘not doing’, but rather letting the chips fall where they may, living not in accordance with our desires, but with nature—that is, living spontaneously and intuitively. Maintaining dao here means respecting the way things are naturally, and thus to Laozi, living in accordance with nature is virtuous. In other words, given the ever-changing nature of the world, to live virtuously means to harmonize ourselves with everything else in the world: we ought to act without desire or ambition, or even to any recourse to social conventions. Living like this, Laozi says, leads to a simple yet peaceful, tranquil life.

Final Thoughts

No doubt Laozi’s dao is thought-provoking and questions our sense of virtue and living well. By studying the Daodejing we can think critically about the world we find ourselves in and how we can act as agents within it. We will see many philosophers after his time (especially in the West) agree that we ought to live a life in accordance with rationality, but such a life doesn’t always mean living without desire. After all, throughout history we see a development of philosophies on how to live well, an indication that Laozi’s dao is not the only Way to a virtuous and well-lived life.

 

Ron Buenaventura is a graduating student from the University of Toronto, majoring in Philosophy with a concentration in Ancient Greek Philosophy, as well as minoring in Politics. His favourite subjects are the Presocratics and Hellenistic schools, particularly the Eleatic school and Epicureanism.

After the summer, Ron will study at Ryerson University for his master’s degree, working with others in academia who share his passion for philosophy. Aside from academics, Ron also likes to sing and has made a few covers for his favourite bands like Imagine Dragons and the Lumineers. He is also an avid chess player and Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast, playing both with friends from time to time.