Volume 23, 2008
Philosophy of Environment
V. V. Mantatov, L. V. Mantatova
Pages 77-84
The Value Basics of Coming Civilization
Sustainable Development and Environmental Ethics
The main philosophical question of the contemporaneity consists in that how far mankind is capable to change "direction of development" and to provide itself a Sustainable Future. Today it is obvious that any planetary actions driven by values of modern technocratic (material) civilization assume great risk and can lead to
the global ecological catastrophe. Consequently, the search for new values of civilization development has a truly decisive importance for man and mankind. In our opinion, Sustainable Development and Environmental Ethics are the main components of a new value paradigm of civilization’s transformation. To emphasize fundamental novelty of the above-named value basics of a future civilization and its alternative character with respect to the modern technocratic
culture, we introduce the concept of "ecological civilization". We imagine the ecological civilization as the ideal form of integrity preservation of the Whole-Life-System with a view to provide sustainable future for mankind. This is spiritually oriented and highly moral society because the ecological imperative, as a matter of fact, coincides with the ideal of spirituality. We connect prospects of ecological (spiritual) civilization with forming of planetary value consciousness on principles of Environmental Ethics.