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The global ecological crisis has posed unprecedented survival challenges to human being. Consequently, ecological issues have naturally become central concerns in philosophy. From the methodological perspective of constructive engagement in comparative philosophy, we have chosen to compare the ecological thoughts of two thinkers—Karl Marx and Lao Zi (老子)—who are separated by vast spans of time and cultural tradition. We argue that Karl Marx holds a mild anthropocentric ecological view, while Lao Zi holds a transcendental ecological view. In addressing ecological issues, Lao Zi's transcendental methodological guiding principles can provide negative methodological constraints for Karl Marx's constructive ideals, while Karl Marx's constructive ideals can supplement Lao Zi's transcendental methodological guiding principles with positive practical strategies. In this sense, both can jointly contribute philosophical wisdom to the resolution of contemporary ecological problems.
ZHOU et al. (Mon,) studied this question.