Philosophers, Henri Bergson once observed, "seem to philosophize as if they were sealed in the privacy of their study and did not live on a planet surrounded by the vast organic world of animals, plants, insects, and protozoa." Providing a solid overview of ecological philosophy and original insights into this developing field, Minding Nature focuses on some of the most influential thinkers who have emphasized our natural relations to the earth, our social creations, and each other.

Combining philosophy, ecology, and political theory, the book critiques and builds upon the ideas of such luminaries as Thomas Hobbes, Martin Heidegger, Ernst Bloch, Hannah Arendt, Herbert Marcuse, Barry Commoner, Rachel Carson, and Jurgen Habermas, among others. Individually, these essays provide new perspectives on major philosophers and social thinkers. Taken together, they shed new light on the relationship between ecology, political economy, and social theory.