Nature accompanies man throughout his existence as a species and humanity as a cultural and social community as a whole. According to many scientists and philosophers, people themselves are fully products of nature, its evolutionary development. Of course, the religious context of the issue cannot be ruled out. Indeed, according to the majority of the inhabitants of planet Earth, man was created by God (and some identify the Creator with Nature). In what nature is - a temple or a workshop, let's try to understand this article. But in the beginning - a little about terms.
The concept of "nature"
This is what surrounds us. It is divided into inanimate and living. Non-living include the bowels and rivers, lands and waters, stones and sand - inanimate objects. Everything that moves, grows, is born and dies - living nature. It is made up of plants and animals, and man himself as a biological species. The biosphere and everything connected with it is nature. Is it a temple or a workshop for a man, what is his role in relations with the Blue Planet, as with a living being?
Nature Workshop
"Man is a worker in her." These famous words of Turgenev, spoken by the mouth of Bazarov, for a long time excited the minds of young revolutionaries from science. The hero of the novel is a rather controversial personality. He is a secret romantic and hidden nihilist at the same time. This explosive mixture and determines its concepts: in the surrounding nature there is nothing mysterious, secret. Everything is subject to man and his rational activity. In Bazarov’s understanding, nature should be beneficial - this is its only purpose! Of course, each person (and even the character of the novel) has the right to his point of view, and choose for himself: nature - a temple or a workshop? It may seem to everyone who shares Bazarov’s nihilism that everything around can be redone, corrected for himself. After all, man, in their opinion, is the King of Nature, having the right to these actions that bring him good. But look how the hero ended his life. According to some modern interpretations of the work, the young scientist is killed by Nature herself (in the figurative sense of the word). Only the reason is prosaic - a scratch on the hero’s finger, which invades the routine of life and death with a rough scalpel and dies! The insignificance of the cause should only emphasize the power inequality before death, as you do not deny it.
Destructive activity of people
The consequences of certain human activities (the development of scientific and technological progress, the development of mineral resources and the thoughtless use of natural resources) are sometimes catastrophic. This is especially evident in recent decades. Nature simply does not withstand such an impact and begins to die slowly. And with it many species of plants and animals can disappear, including humans, as a species of mammals. The problem of the survival of mankind and all living things is becoming increasingly tragic. And if you do not stop in time, all this can lead to global, already inevitable consequences.
Where is the road to the temple?
These events make you seriously think: what should be the relationship? What is Nature: a temple or a workshop? The arguments in favor of the first point of view are quite weighty. After all, if humanity treated Mother Nature as a temple, the Earth today would not have known those environmental problems that all the progressive community of scientists are spending on their energy to solve. And time, according to the forecasts of some experts, is less and less!
Of course, nature is a temple in the first place. And you need to go there with a feeling of deep faith and behave there, without violating established customs.
Is nature a temple or a workshop?
The arguments for harmony are undeniable. Firstly, man alone is the main part of nature. But man and nature should not even be considered separately from each other. They are one. Secondly, the relationship should include a special responsibility, as a rational being, of a person to Nature, his caring attitude to it. From childhood in people it is necessary to cultivate this feeling of guardianship of those whom we tamed. And the activities of society literally “tamed” the entire environment.
Noosphere concept
In such a question as “nature - a temple or a workshop”, the study of the works of brilliant scientists, who significantly outstripped the existing understanding of the world in their views, can help.
Academician Vernadsky, for example, was one of those who first pointed out the unity of nature and man. The biosphere, changed by the rational activity of people, in its understanding, corresponds to the concept of the noosphere. This is a new sphere of the mind where human activity becomes the determining factor in development. It, in turn, has a huge impact on natural processes, up to destruction and the possibility of self-destruction. In the doctrine of the noosphere, man is represented deeply rooted in nature, and mankind as a powerful geological force that transforms the appearance of the planet, its appearance. A developed noosphere is formed by the forces of the whole society in the interests of mutual enrichment and comprehensive development.