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Philosophy for Gardeners: Ideas and paradoxes to ponder in the garden
Explore ideas, consider the big questions and learn life lessons in your garden.
Gardening is an innately thoughtful as well as practical pastime: planning ahead, imagining how plants will grow, deciding what will make a 'good' garden, wondering at the beauty of flowers and noticing how ecosystems work.
This delightful and engaging collection of essays illustrate how many philosophical ideas arise naturally in gardeners’ everyday work.
Growers by their nature are in fact already
existentialists who try to live and work by their own rules in a garden; stoics who put up with slug damage again and again, and try to work in harmony with nature; and practical quantum scientists who witness incredible processes going on in plant cells beneath the ground.
In Philosophy for Gardeners, Kate Collyns uses aspects of gardening to introduce and explore a range of philosophical ideas and schools of thought; cultivating a greater understanding and appreciation of intriguing concepts, propagated from science, evolution and aesthetics through to politics, economics and ethics.
Broken into four sections, Soil, Growth, Harvest and Cycles, each section explores questions of philosophy through the lens of the garden. A fascinating read, this book is as perfect for students of philosophy as it is for gardeners, filled with thought-provoking reflections on life, being and existence.
Gardening is an innately thoughtful as well as practical pastime: planning ahead, imagining how plants will grow, deciding what will make a 'good' garden, wondering at the beauty of flowers and noticing how ecosystems work.
This delightful and engaging collection of essays illustrate how many philosophical ideas arise naturally in gardeners’ everyday work.
Growers by their nature are in fact already
existentialists who try to live and work by their own rules in a garden; stoics who put up with slug damage again and again, and try to work in harmony with nature; and practical quantum scientists who witness incredible processes going on in plant cells beneath the ground.
In Philosophy for Gardeners, Kate Collyns uses aspects of gardening to introduce and explore a range of philosophical ideas and schools of thought; cultivating a greater understanding and appreciation of intriguing concepts, propagated from science, evolution and aesthetics through to politics, economics and ethics.
Broken into four sections, Soil, Growth, Harvest and Cycles, each section explores questions of philosophy through the lens of the garden. A fascinating read, this book is as perfect for students of philosophy as it is for gardeners, filled with thought-provoking reflections on life, being and existence.
- GenresPhilosophy
144 pages, Hardcover
Published May 3, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 28, 2022
A very unusual way that mixes garden with philosophy. It's not always easy to follow but it's really interesting and I liked the examples and the style of writing.
I think it's a good way to learn about philosophy.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I think it's a good way to learn about philosophy.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
May 7, 2022
You definitely have to be into philosophy to enjoy this book. I’m way more into gardening, so I enjoyed the parts that were more realistic/gardening heavy.
The philosophy in this book uses gardening to reillustrate familiar concepts such as the tree in the forest. If I don’t check under the pot, is a frog really there? It also delves into more advanced philosophical concepts I had a hard time getting on board with.
I love the imagery in this book. Beautiful, vintage-style illustrations, but overall, it wasn’t really for me.
Thank you, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the ARC.
The philosophy in this book uses gardening to reillustrate familiar concepts such as the tree in the forest. If I don’t check under the pot, is a frog really there? It also delves into more advanced philosophical concepts I had a hard time getting on board with.
I love the imagery in this book. Beautiful, vintage-style illustrations, but overall, it wasn’t really for me.
Thank you, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the ARC.
January 28, 2022
This book can benefit not only gardeners interested in philosophy, but also philosophers interested in gardening. [If you’re in the intersect of people expert in both philosophy and gardening, the book probably won’t hold a great deal of intrigue as it’s written for a more general audience.] The gist is examples and analogies from gardening applied to elucidating philosophical concepts. In a few cases, these examples feel a bit forced. In most cases, they work just fine. But in a few other cases, the gardening analogies offer a powerful and unique insight that one would be unlikely to take away from a single-axis philosophy guide. For example, I found the relating of utilitarianism to the gardener’s dilemma of whether to start with a wildly overgrown bed or a relatively clean one offered a fresh perspective on the topic.
The book’s twenty chapters are divided into four parts. The parts are labeled “Soil,” “Growth,” “Harvest,” and “Cycles;” which I took to apply to fundamentals, change, outcomes, and the cycle of life and death. Part I, “Soil,” investigates topics in metaphysics, governance, and taxonomy. The second part, “Growth,” explores evolutionary adaptation, altruism / cooperation, the blank slate (and its critique,) and Zeno’s paradoxes. The penultimate section, “Harvest,” delves into topics such as forms, aesthetics, the reliability of senses, epistemology, and economic philosophy. Finally, “Cycles” discusses identity, logic and linguistic limitations, ethics, and pragmatism.
The book uses retro illustrations that look like the plates one might see in a book from the 19th century. There’s a brief bibliography, primarily of philosophical classics.
I’m always on the lookout for books that consider the perspective that humans exist within nature and our ways can’t be understood divorced from our place in the natural world. In that sense, I believe the book has much to offer.
The book’s twenty chapters are divided into four parts. The parts are labeled “Soil,” “Growth,” “Harvest,” and “Cycles;” which I took to apply to fundamentals, change, outcomes, and the cycle of life and death. Part I, “Soil,” investigates topics in metaphysics, governance, and taxonomy. The second part, “Growth,” explores evolutionary adaptation, altruism / cooperation, the blank slate (and its critique,) and Zeno’s paradoxes. The penultimate section, “Harvest,” delves into topics such as forms, aesthetics, the reliability of senses, epistemology, and economic philosophy. Finally, “Cycles” discusses identity, logic and linguistic limitations, ethics, and pragmatism.
The book uses retro illustrations that look like the plates one might see in a book from the 19th century. There’s a brief bibliography, primarily of philosophical classics.
I’m always on the lookout for books that consider the perspective that humans exist within nature and our ways can’t be understood divorced from our place in the natural world. In that sense, I believe the book has much to offer.
March 7, 2022
Philosophy for Gardeners by Kate Collyns is a delightfully thought inducing look at some basic philosophical ideas through the lens of gardening. Whether your interest is primarily philosophy, gardening, or both this book will offer many new perspectives even on the topics you've already studied and learned.
Gardens and philosophy go way back, and there have been various books that explore this intersection but few if any use the act of gardening as the entryway to philosophical thought. A garden, whether you're a gardener or someone just enjoying it, is a place of quiet and contemplation. Your thoughts may be as simple as observing a beautiful flower or the song of a bird, but often, if you spend some time there, you begin thinking bigger thoughts. This book grounds those thoughts, quite literally, in the act of gardening itself.
I think those who have studied philosophy AND enjoy gardening will enjoy this a lot. It isn't that any specific item will be new to you, it will be the juxtaposition of things you knew from a certain perspective and now can view them from a new perspective. It will also key your mind into making other connections next time you are either gardening or studying philosophy.
While one of my undergrad degrees was philosophy I have never been a gardener, so this was a wonderful trip through an entirely new way, for me, to approach familiar topics. I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in philosophy and/or gardening, especially those well versed in both.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Gardens and philosophy go way back, and there have been various books that explore this intersection but few if any use the act of gardening as the entryway to philosophical thought. A garden, whether you're a gardener or someone just enjoying it, is a place of quiet and contemplation. Your thoughts may be as simple as observing a beautiful flower or the song of a bird, but often, if you spend some time there, you begin thinking bigger thoughts. This book grounds those thoughts, quite literally, in the act of gardening itself.
I think those who have studied philosophy AND enjoy gardening will enjoy this a lot. It isn't that any specific item will be new to you, it will be the juxtaposition of things you knew from a certain perspective and now can view them from a new perspective. It will also key your mind into making other connections next time you are either gardening or studying philosophy.
While one of my undergrad degrees was philosophy I have never been a gardener, so this was a wonderful trip through an entirely new way, for me, to approach familiar topics. I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in philosophy and/or gardening, especially those well versed in both.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
January 9, 2024
As hobbies go, gardening pushes toward the contemplative side of things. Planting, weeding, . . . . It’s brief activity and a lot of waiting and watching.
It really does lend itself to the philosophical. Definitely more the casual brand of philosophy than the technical, hardcore stuff, but philosophy still.
This book catches the vibe. It enforces a slow pace, drifting in the moment and sitting back for reflection.
Collyns divides things up into four phases: Soil, Growth, Harvest, and Cycles. Within each, she takes up five themes, oriented around gardening attributes, questions, and choices, and corresponding historical philosophical positions, questions, and quandaries.
She pulls inspiration from every scene and stage of philosophical thought, from the Presocratics to Buddhism to Confucianism, Taoism, all the way up to current days. If you wanted to use this as a primer or introduction to the history of philosophy, you wouldn’t get an argument from me. It’s engaging, doesn’t try to go too far, and the gardening context provides a nice hook if you’re a gardening enthusiast.
As a one-time academic philosopher, I’m required to quibble arrogantly with some of Collyns’ depictions of philosophical problems and positions, but I think I’ll just fail on that count.
Get out your philosophical seeds, hoes, and shovels, and have at it.
It really does lend itself to the philosophical. Definitely more the casual brand of philosophy than the technical, hardcore stuff, but philosophy still.
This book catches the vibe. It enforces a slow pace, drifting in the moment and sitting back for reflection.
Collyns divides things up into four phases: Soil, Growth, Harvest, and Cycles. Within each, she takes up five themes, oriented around gardening attributes, questions, and choices, and corresponding historical philosophical positions, questions, and quandaries.
She pulls inspiration from every scene and stage of philosophical thought, from the Presocratics to Buddhism to Confucianism, Taoism, all the way up to current days. If you wanted to use this as a primer or introduction to the history of philosophy, you wouldn’t get an argument from me. It’s engaging, doesn’t try to go too far, and the gardening context provides a nice hook if you’re a gardening enthusiast.
As a one-time academic philosopher, I’m required to quibble arrogantly with some of Collyns’ depictions of philosophical problems and positions, but I think I’ll just fail on that count.
Get out your philosophical seeds, hoes, and shovels, and have at it.
August 4, 2022
I think you really have to be into the mindset and mood to read a book like this, or be really into philosophy. The author put in a lot of work but the book just wasn't for me.
*I received and ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for my review*
*I received and ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for my review*
July 1, 2026
This was an interesting combination of two subjects, gardening and philosophy. It's one I may have to read again at some stage to gain a different understanding of.
July 1, 2024
Go slow, work with nature, and do not fret over weeds. A wee bit of fun for gardeners.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews