A Companion to Public Philosophy

28Philosophy in Nature as a Kind of Public Philosophy

ANDREA CHRISTELLE

1 Introduction

Imagine yourself sitting comfortably, eyes closed, in the shade of a cottonwood. The sound of the creek induces a sense of ease, presence, and belonging. During this short, easy meditation, you tune in to the sounds of birds and leaves as you deepen your own self‐awareness and consciously and unconsciously reconnect to nature. It is a rare and welcome opportunity to shrug off the busyness of life and begin an intellectual and experiential journey that is both restorative and invigorating.

This unconventional prelude to philosophy is how a Sedona Philosophy tour begins – by situating ourselves in the natural world that has, for many of us, become remote. While this way of practicing philosophy may be unusual today, philosophers have been philosophizing outdoors at least since Aristotle’s students were strolling up and down the Peripatos. Kant’s clocklike walks were famous in Konigsburg. Thoreau’s two‐year retreat at Walden was both a method and subject of philosophical study.

The point is not that famous or academic philosophers can do philosophy in nature. It is well known that they have, whether in good company or on their own. What I have been exploring is how philosophy in nature could be curated for a public audience. I do this by applying what I have learned about doing public philosophy in libraries and movie theaters to philosophical conversations in the natural world. Along the way ...