Shan Gao is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Soochow University and the Founder of the Center for Nature, Wilderness and Civilization.
Her research interests encompass a broad spectrum, including the history of Western philosophy and Chinese philosophy, Comparative Philosophy Between East and West, as well as Environmental Ethics and Environmental Aesthetics.
Abstract: Nature, Wilderness and Place:
Comparative Studies between American Transcendentalism and Chinese Philosophy
In my talk, I will focus on comparative studies between American transcendentalism and Chinese philosophy and discuss how their different philosophical interpretation of the concept of nature has tremendous influence on different senses of place. The former values wilderness as a place while the latter values cultivated lands such as gardens and agricultural land as a place. In terms of American transcendentalism, I will mainly focus on Emerson, Thoreau, and John Muir’s works, especially Emerson’s completed works. For Chinese philosophy, I will focus on two dominant Chinese philosophical schools: Confucianism and Daoism.
In the first part of my paper, I will focus on the metaphysics of American transcendentalism and Chinese philosophy since it is a deeper philosophical reason why different types of nature are valued as places. The two metaphysical concepts I will focus on are God and Dao. I will make a comparative study of these two concepts and address their relationship with the concept of nature. I point out that God and Dao as the ultimate reality are both value-laden. They represent the combination of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. However, their interpretation of these three elements is very different. Their metaphysical interpretation of nature has tremendous influence on their understanding of material nature. Material nature is considered as reality rather than illusion as Plato understands.
In the second part, I will address why American transcendentalism and Chinese philosophy both pursue spirituality in living in harmony with nature. Although they both use the concept of harmony, their interpretation of harmony differs. I will make a comparative study in the concept of life in harmony with nature between American transcendentalism and Chinese philosophy. Thirdly, I will discuss why the pursuit of spirituality in nature in American transcendentalism and Chinese philosophy cultivates different kinds of sense of place. In this part, I will give a philosophical interpretation of the concept of place. I will address the two core elements in understanding the concept of place: aesthetic appreciation and love and then I will explore why wilderness and cultivated land become the object of aesthetic appreciation and feelings of love. In the last part, I will address the sense of place and its influence on environmental conservation practices in China and America.