Studies of Eastern and Western thought generally agree that in the post-Enlightenment West, Nature has been viewed as an "other" -an object in opposition to and conflict with the subjective human, to be conquered, managed, developed, exploited and improved.
在對東西方的思想研究上，一般認為，啟蒙主義後的西方，將自然當成「對象」，相對於人這一主體，自然不過是客體，與人類主體對立、衝突，它有待主體的克服，必須進行管理、利用、開發，使之更完善。