Abstract: This paper expounds the main position of human beings in the relationship with nature and the original meaning of the concept of sustainable development. It is pointed out that in order to highlight the dominant position of human beings, promote the harmony between man and nature and realize the sustainable development of society, it is necessary to correctly understand and handle two relations.
Since the 20th century, sustainable development has become a hot topic. As a new social development strategy, it has been put into practice by many countries and is a qualitative leap in the process of human social civilization. Paying attention to people's position in sustainable development is related to how to grasp the essence of the concept of sustainable development, and even to the fundamental problem of whether sustainable development can be truly realized.
First, the dominant position of man in the relationship with nature.
The so-called subjective position of human beings refers to a position of human beings in the relationship with nature, that is, in this relationship, human beings are the subject and nature is the object. Man's dominant position is mainly manifested in: (1) man actively uses and transforms nature according to his own needs for survival and development; (2) People "idealize" the external nature through practical activities, thus enriching, perfecting and developing themselves; (3) The essence of man's dominant position is that man is the purpose. As far as human beings are concerned, to correctly understand and effectively handle the relationship between man and nature must take whether it meets the objective needs of human survival and development as the ultimate value orientation and judgment standard. Of course, this does not deny the objectivity and independence of nature in front of human activities, that is, nature can exist independently of human beings, with objective laws and essence that are not transferred by human will. On the one hand, people can't "do whatever they want" in front of nature, but must admit the real existence of nature and respect the laws of nature; On the other hand, the existence of nature and its laws is valuable, because they provide conditions for human survival and development, serve human activities and serve human purposes. This is the basic meaning of man's subject status, and it is also the basic content and regulation of the relationship between man and nature.
Second, the original meaning of the concept of sustainable development
Since the development of human society, there are three basic viewpoints to understand and deal with the relationship between man and nature from the perspective of development: First, the "people-oriented" view of the traditional development concept only boils down to a simple economic level and economic standard, emphasizing the growth of material wealth. In the relationship between man and nature, we only regard nature as the source of material information for human survival and development, and as the object of human's "conquest" and "transformation", but we fail to see the restriction of nature on human activities and human's dependence on nature, and inappropriately exaggerate human's dominant position in nature, which is the fundamental reason why human beings are facing many "ecological problems" today. The second is the view of "pure nature", which holds that all natural things except human beings have their intrinsic value and self-interest, all life species in nature are equal, and human beings are only a part of the "ecosystem", which fundamentally denies the narrow concept of "people-oriented" that human beings are the "masters" of nature, but at the same time regards human beings as the "masters" of nature. Therefore, the concept of "pure nature" must face the theoretical dilemma and practical problems of what is the purpose of maintaining ecological balance and protecting the environment. Third, the concept of sustainable development is also a dialectical development concept with people as the main body. It overcomes the one-sidedness of "people-oriented" and "pure nature" in the relationship between man and nature, integrates scientific and reasonable components, and establishes a more scientific development concept. From the methodological point of view, the defect of the "people-oriented" development view lies in that people are not placed in the correct position of nature, and the relationship between man and nature is regarded as a "master-servant" relationship, and the existence of nature and its value and significance to people are not valued and properly grasped; The concept of "pure nature" is biased in that it fundamentally denies the subjectivity of human beings in the face of nature and the dominant position of human beings in the relationship with nature, and regards the relationship between human beings and nature as a "master-master" relationship, completely denying the essential attributes of human beings under the so-called "equality" principle. In this way, people are confused with other natural objects. Different from the former two, the concept of sustainable development is to analyze and understand the relationship between man and nature under the framework of the relationship between subject and object, and holds that man and nature have obtained the status and function of subject and object respectively in their "mutual" relationship (interaction, mutual restriction and mutual adjustment). Here, the difference between man and other natural objects is that besides other natural objects, man also forms the subject-object relationship between individuals, between individuals and groups, and between groups. It is in this sense that human beings have "intrinsic value", while other natural objects have only "external value", that is, the value belonging to human beings.
Three. Man's dominant position and the realization of sustainable development
To highlight people's dominant position, promote the harmony between man and nature, and realize the sustainable development of society, we need to correctly understand and handle the following relations, which can be divided into two levels: understanding and practice:
1. On the cognitive level. Correctly understand the relationship between ends and means. The meaning of purpose and means here refers to the purpose of sustainable development (including the harmonious relationship between man and nature, the harmonious relationship between people and the harmonious development of society) and the valuable means to achieve this goal. Then, what is the relationship between man and nature, and what are the purposes and means to achieve sustainable development? In the ultimate and abstract sense, man is the ultimate goal of sustainable development, and the essence of sustainable development is man's all-round development, which is naturally the basic means and conditions to realize man's all-round development. From the present and concrete point of view, the relationship between man and nature in the process of realizing sustainable development is manifested in the relationship of mutual purposes and means, that is, the purpose of people's activities refers to, some are to transform and utilize nature for some people's interests, and some are to protect nature to maintain ecological balance, change some people's ideas or limit some people's material desires. It is the interaction between man and nature in a specific time and space that enables human beings to develop and the natural environment to be protected, thus realizing the harmony and sustainability of natural evolution and social development.
2. On the practical level. Correctly handle the relationship between transforming nature and transforming people. Sustainable development is the unity of harmony between man and nature and harmony between people. For sustainable development, the harmony between man and nature is the "core", the harmony between man and man is the "essence", and the "core" is determined by the "essence". Therefore, to implement the strategy of sustainable development, we should not only focus on the "core" but also grasp the "essence", link the transformation of nature with the transformation of people, and put the transformation of people in the first place. This is because people are the main body, while other natural objects exist as "environmental" identities necessary for human survival and development. Human activities not only have the negative effects of destroying the ecological environment, but also have the responsibility and positive results of consciously protecting the environment and improving the ecological balance. From the perspective of coordinating the relationship between man and nature, we can transform man and achieve harmony between man and nature and between people. First of all, human beings must treat interests correctly: first, the relationship between the overall interests and local interests of human beings. It should be said that the overall interests of human beings are essentially in line with the evolution law of nature, but local interests often conflict with the overall interests, so that the overall interests of human beings are harmed for the sake of their own national, ethnic, regional or individual local interests. This conflict of human interests is often manifested in the fact that the value orientation of human activities does not conform to the laws of nature, resulting in various "ecological problems". For example, the Kyoto Protocol adopted by the Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in 1997 is not only difficult to adopt, but also difficult to implement. Some countries openly refused to commit themselves to fulfilling the relevant provisions of the Protocol for their own benefit. This selfish departmentalism, which sticks to local interests, not only intensifies the contradiction between man and nature, but also causes "social ecological problems" that are no less than natural ecological problems, such as unreasonable resource allocation, unfair and underdeveloped development, and the expansion of greed and wealth inequality. The second is the interest relationship between contemporary people and future generations. The World Commission on Environment and Development pointed out in the book Our Common Future: "Sustainable development is a development that not only meets the needs of contemporary people, but also does not harm the ability of future generations to meet their needs." The essence of sustainable development is the all-round sustainable development of human beings, and to truly realize the sustainable development of human beings, we should not only treat the relationship between local interests and the overall interests of human beings reasonably, but also handle the inter-generational interests well. To unify the right to development with the obligation to develop, we should not only realize and protect the right to development of contemporary people, but also deprive future generations of the right to development.
In short, the relationship between man and nature, as the core issue of sustainable development, itself contains two interrelated aspects: "man's problem" and "nature's problem". Solving "human problems" is the starting point and destination of solving "natural problems", because "natural problems" originate from "human problems", and the solution of "natural problems" is to better solve "human problems", and the most fundamental thing is the all-round development of people. This is the logical and practical basis for implementing the strategy of sustainable development and adhering to the consistency of people's dominant position.