The Contemporary Construction of Environmental Ethics of "Fear for Nature" from the Perspective of Complex Systems: an Investigation based on Jonas' "Imperative of Responsibility"

The construction of an environmental ethics with stronger moral constraints and practical normativity is the theoretical cornerstone for solving todays ecological crisis and establishing a reasonable position of humans within the natural system. Given the extensive debate on whether "non-human entities" possess intrinsic or inherent value, the "fear for nature" can serve as an environmental ethics scheme that is rooted in deeper thought, backed by stronger theoretical justifications, possesses stronger moral constraint, and incurs less controversy compared to "reverence for life" or "respect for nature". Due to the complexity of natural systems, the unpredictability of their behavioral evolution, along with humanity's dependency on nature and possession of powerful technological forces, humans must keep their "fear for nature" to ensure the "there be a mankind" in the future. At the level of ideological concepts, we need to maintain a state of fear for nature at all times; at the level of theoretical understanding, we must use "resilience thinking" to maintain the stability of the system to prevent irrational behavior from causing system collapse; consuming only the "profits" and not damaging the "capital" forms the core content at the level of practical norms. These three dimensions organically unite to form a systematic environmental ethics of "fear for nature" which regulates human behavior.