ONLINE FIRST
published on December 15, 2017
Shan Gao
Can Chinese Philosophy Embrace Wilderness?
Because of rapid industrialization and urbanization, many natural resources in China have increasingly been degraded. In response to this situation, China has
learned from the United States about one of its best ideas, national parks. This idea triggers many philosophical questions. How is wilderness interpreted in the
United States? What are the philosophical foundations for the concept of intrinsic value in wilderness? Can Chinese philosophy accept wilderness? To answer these questions, the idea of intrinsic value in wilderness and the Western philosophical foundations for this idea need to be examined as well as the concept of topophilia which may better represent the Chinese people’s attitude toward nature, but which currently influences the Chinese people’s negative attitude toward wilderness. It may be possible to improve Chinese affection for wilderness in terms of topophilia by following two principles: the principle of emotion and the
principle of practice.