David E. Cooper explores our relationship to nature and asks how it can be shaped into an appropriate one which contributes to the good of people’s lives as a whole. The author explains how a yearning for convergence with nature is rooted in Daoist philosophy and explores the implications for our practical engagement with natural environments.

1    Orientation       Nature writing       Some modern moods       Philosophy’s roles   2    Why Daoism?       Nature and people in Chinese art       In a Daoist key       Daoist moods   3   Religion, technology, estrangement       Theology and ‘the ecological crisis’       A philosopher’s hut       Daoism, technology and estrangement       ‘Letting-be’   4    Estrangement, environmentalism and ‘otherness’       Rhetoric and reality       Nature’s ‘otherness’   5    Nature in Daoism       ‘Nature’: some connected senses       Nature as educator       Nature and virtue   6    On the Way (1): dao, world and unity       Dao, God, nature and nothing       Dao, experience and world       Self, world and the unity of things   7    On the Way (2): de, virtues and sages       De and the myriad things       ‘Profound de’ and human virtues       The Daoist sage   8     Mindfulness of nature        Mindfulness, disinterestedness and impartiality        Mirroring nature and ‘dirty glass’        Science and reverie   9     Nature, feeling and appreciation        Sober joy        Opposing moods        Enjoying natural beauty   10   Engaging with nature               Activity, engagement, intervention        Being outdoors        Engagement, environment and convergence        ‘The Daoist body’   11   Wilderness, wildness, wildlife        The wild        Wildlife and hunting        Guns, cameras, companions   12   Intervening in nature        Industry and technology        Agriculture        The Daoist garden   13   Intervening for nature?        Activism and virtue        Environmentalism and wu wei        Daoism and quietism   Notes Reading

Convergence with Nature explores our relationship to nature – to animals, to plants, to natural places – and asks how it can be shaped into an appropriate one that contributes to the good of our lives as a whole. Religions and philosophies have much to say on this subject, and Chinese Daoist philosophy is considered to be one of the most sympathetic to the natural world. Daoists seek an attunement to the dao (the Way), which is characterised by a sense of flow, spontaneity, non-interference and humility – virtues that contrast with the aggressive values of a modern world driven by economic imperatives.   Like much contemporary nature writing, the classic Daoist texts reveal a yearning for convergence with nature, nostalgia for a lost intimacy with the natural world, disillusion with humanity or its products, and a feeling for nature’s mystery. The author explains how these attitudes are rooted in Daoist philosophy and explores their implications for us today. He discusses a number of pertinent issues, such as what role science should play in our relationship with nature, whether hunting animals is consistent with an appropriate relationship to them, and whether a harmonious relationship with nature demands an active commitment to saving the environment.