Engaging Nature is an edited collection that explores how past political theorists conceptualized the natural world and humanity’s relationship with it. The theorists profiled are largely from the Western canon, but other influential theorists have been included in order to bring in insights related to race, gender, and non-Western perspectives. The theorists covered in the book are: Plato, Aristotle, Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, W. E. B. Du Bois, Martin Heidegger, Hannah Arend ... More

Engaging Nature is an edited collection that explores how past political theorists conceptualized the natural world and humanity’s relationship with it. The theorists profiled are largely from the Western canon, but other influential theorists have been included in order to bring in insights related to race, gender, and non-Western perspectives. The theorists covered in the book are: Plato, Aristotle, Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, W. E. B. Du Bois, Martin Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, and Confucius. The essays also draw insights from these theorists into how we might address our contemporary environmental crisis. In many cases, the authors present unorthodox readings of particular theorists who have been pigeonholed as ‘anti-environmentalist’ or not recognized for their insights into nature and environmental issues. The essays also highlight the complexity of Western political thought in its approach to nature, as many individual theorists present perspectives that transcend anthropocentrism. In pursuing a chronological review of Western thinkers but then ending with Confucius, the editors also wish to highlight the importance of expanding the discussion beyond the Western canon. This book is intended for a fairly broad audience, from advanced undergraduates to mature scholars in both political theory and environmental studies.