英语翻译As this century draws to a close,these are not merely qu

英语翻译
As this century draws to a close,these are not merely questions for abstract philosophical debate but,as Roderick Frazier Nash points out in The Rights of Nature,issues of intense interest to theologians,lawyers,legislators and even scientists.Radical environmentalists are already demanding that legal and ethical protection be extended to all of nature,and a few of them have demonstrated a willingness to fight,break the law and even die in support of this belief.
As described by Nash,the circle covered by the ethical rules governing individual and social behavior has expanded slowly and irregularly throughout history.Starting by granting rights to themselves,humans gradually enlarged the circle to include the family,the tribe,the nation and,in theory if not in practice,the entire community of human beings.When Thomas Jefferson wrote that all men were created equal and entitled to certain unalienable rights,it was understood he was talking only about white males.Since the American Revolution,however,the right to ethical treatment has been extended,at least by law and social consensus,to include women and ethnic minorities.
The next page in this history - the extension of ethical and legal rights to animals,plants,and the rest of the natural world - is now being written,Nash believes.For a growing number of people throughout the world but particularly in the United States,the belief is taking root.
The idea that nature has rights and is entitled to ethical consideration is not a new one.Some Eastern religions define humans as only part of a great chain of being.But in the Christian tradition of the West,man was created to master nature,not to be part of it.
However,as environmentalism has evolved as a social movement in recent years,Nash says,the concept of liberating nature from persecution by humanity has gained followers.

在本世纪即将结束之际,这些不只是抽象的哲学争论的问题,但正如罗德里克·弗雷泽 - 纳什指出,在大自然的权利,强烈的利益对神学家,律师,立法者甚至是科学家的问题.激进的环保主义者已经要求法律和道德的保护扩大到所有的性质,以及他们几个都表现出愿意打,触犯法律,甚至死在支持这一信念.
所描述的纳什,受规管个人和社会行为的道德规则的圆圈在整个历史缓慢,不规则扩大.通过授予权利,自己开始,人类逐渐扩大的圆圈,包括家庭,部落,民族和,理论上如果不是在实践中,人类的整个社会.当托马斯·杰斐逊写道,所有的人都生来平等,并享有若干不可剥夺的权利,据了解,他只说的是白人男性.由于美国革命,然而,道德待遇的权利一直延续,至少在法律和社会共识,包括妇女和少数民族.
在这个历史的下一个页面 - 伦理和法律权利,动物,植物,自然世界其他地区的扩展 - 现在正在写,纳什认为.对于越来越多的世界各地的人,但特别是在美国,信念深入人心.
这自然有权利,并有权对道德的考虑这个想法是不是一个新的.一些东方宗教定义为人类的是一条大链子的一部分.但在西方的基督教传统,男人是为了掌握自然,不要成为它的一部分.
然而,由于环保已演变为一种社会运动,近年来,纳什说,解放天性,从迫害人类的概念已经深入人心的追随者.