Abstract :
As far as philosophical thinking is concerned, human-nature relation is the one that has continued its existence since ancient times. The underlying reason why ancient philosophers turned to nature was not to rule over nature but to gain an insight into it. Not keeping their distance from nature, humans, quite the contrary, chose to integrate with it. However, originating with especially Bacon and Descartes in the 16th and 17th centuries and formulated by regarding ‘mind’ as the only criterion, this conception – that is, the scientific worldview – led to a mechanical nature design by completely altering the way humans perceive both themselves and their circle, and from then on there began a new era when nature is designed and transformed by ‘mind’. Having emerged in process and also matured under the influence of Rousseau and Romantics, the ecological arguments re-handled the direction and quality of human-nature relationship by also attaching importance to humans’ emotional ties with nature. As a result, these arguments headed towards a new eco-understanding which centered on environment and its problems instead of the recent scientific understanding which centers on humans and their needs. This paper, tries to question the role of philosophy in shaping a consciousness that regards the environment in which humans live as their own home, considers environmental problems as their own problems, and embraces the environment; in other words, this paper aims to show the strength of philosophical consciousness in forming an environmental awareness and discuss the humanistic, ethical, and philosophical background of environmental problems.
NaturalLanguageKeyword :
Environmental problems , Environmental awareness , Philosophical consciousness , Humannature relationship , Environmental ethics.
