At the same time, the emergence of scientific materialism has fostered the belief that nature is nothing but physical matter rationally organized according to physical law but devoid of any spirit, soul or inner purpose. As stated by French philosopher Rene Descartes, the main theme of modern science is to equip humans with the tool to conquer over matter and become lords and master of nature.
Nature is not simply a warehouse of resources to serve human needs. Rather, it is a highly integrated, interdependent functioning system upon which all life forms, including the soil, water, plants, animals and humans depend for survival. In fact, Modern science has provided extensive empirical evidence which indicated that nature was a complex collection of water, air, soil, animal, plants and human beings. The components were sufficiently interdependent that the failure of one part of the system could undermine the productivity of other parts.
