Abstract: Intuitionally, the basic principle of ecological ethics should be thatour behaviors ought to be beneficent or non-maleficent to the ecological system. But there are two problems in it, one is epistemological and another is axiological. The former is how we can know if our behaviors are beneficent or non-maleficent to the ecological system. The latter is whether our knowledge about the ecological system is sufficient to make so positive a principle. I think we can give negative answers to the two questions. So we can simply have a negative principle to ecological ethics. That is that we shouldn't disturb the ecological system if unnecessary. That is so-called “natural razor”.

Key words: ecological ethics, ethical principle, natural

摘要： 直觉地看,生态伦理学的基本原则应该是,我们的行为应该有利于或无害于生态系统。然而,这个原则却在认识论和价值论上都存在着困难,首先,我们无法在原则上知道我们的行为是否有利或无害于生态系统,其次,我们不能保证我们的生态学知识可以充分地推出这个积极的原则。因此,“自然剃刀”的消极原则是:如无必要,不应该增加对生态系统的人为干预。

关键词: 生态伦理学, 伦理原则, 自然剃刀, 奥卡姆剃刀, 自由剃刀