Table of Contents

Foreword viii
David E. Cooper

Acknowledgments xi
Dan O’Brien

Planting the Seed: An Introduction to Gardening – Philosophy for Everyone 1
Dan O’Brien

Part I The Good Life 11

1 The Virtues of Gardening 13
Isis Brook

2 Cultivating the Soul: The Ethics of Gardening in Ancient Greece and Rome 26
Meghan T. Ray

3 Escaping Eden: Plant Ethics in a Gardener’s World 38
Matthew Hall

4 Food Glorious Food 48
Helene Gammack

Part II Flower Power 63

5 Plants, Prayers, and Power: The Story of the First Mediterranean Gardens 65
Jo Day

6 Brussels Sprouts and Empire: Putting Down Roots 79
Michael Moss

7 Transplanting Liberty: Lafayette’s American Garden 93
Laura Auricchio

8 Cockney Plots: Allotments and Grassroots Political Activism 106
Elizabeth A. Scott

Part III The Flower Show 119

9 Hortus Incantans: Gardening as an Art of Enchantment 121
Eric MacDonald

10 Gardens, Music, and Time 135
Ismay Barwell and John Powell

11 The Pragmatic Picturesque: The Philosophy of Central Park 148
Gary Shapiro

Part IV The Cosmic Garden 161

12 Illusions of Grandeur: A Harmonious Garden for the Sun King 163
Robert Neuman

13 Time and Temporality in the Garden 178
Mara Miller

14 Cultivating Our Garden: David Hume and Gardening as Therapy 192
Dan O’Brien

Part V Philosophers’ Gardens 205

15 The Garden of the Aztec Philosopher-King 207
Susan Toby Evans

16 Epicurus, the Garden, and the Golden Age 220
Gordon Campbell

17 Gardener of Souls: Philosophical Education in Plato’s Phaedrus 232
Anne Cotton

Notes on Contributors 245

About the Author

Editor Dan O Brien is a Research Fellow at Oxford BrookesUniversity, an Honorary Research Fellow at Birmingham University,and an Associate Lecturer with the Open University. He is theauthor of An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge (2006)and Hume s Enquiry Concerning HumanUnderstanding : A Reader s Guide (with Alan Bailey,2006). In addition, he has recently edited a special volume ofPhilosophica on the epistemology of testimony. Series Editor Fritz Allhoff is an Assistant Professor in the PhilosophyDepartment at Western Michigan University, as well as a SeniorResearch Fellow at the Australian National University sCentre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. In addition toediting the Philosophy for Everyone series, Allhoff is thevolume editor or co-editor for several titles, including Wine& Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Whiskey PHIlosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley, 2009), and Food& Philosophy (with Dave Monroe, Wiley-Blackwell,2007).

Reviews

Intriguing ideas combined with a philosophical method ofinquiry bring the benefits of gardening into the 21stcentury. Gardening Philosophy for Everyone: CultivatingWisdomproduces what the title suggests it cultivates andgrows the body of knowledge about gardening, exploring the value ofgardening past and present for multiple disciplines. (Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture, 1 November 2012)"So pull up a chair, relax under a shady canopy and delve into thefascinating garden-related philosophies contained in this mostinteresting read." (Australian Horticulture, 1 March 2011)"A goodmix of topics, ideas and arguments - a very good and meaty read."(Gardensandpeople.co.uk, 1 March 2011) "Reading this book has been an experience so enchanting, that Iam eager to revisit each of the essays, to re submerge myself intheir expertise. If one is a gardener, this is a publicationreserved for cold winter nights or long plane rides; for thenon-gardener, it is an engaging private symposium. One might alsocall it "variations on a theme of gardening", enriched by diverseintellectual disciplines and unexpected perspectives of thecontributing authors." (Gardenguru, 29 March 2011) "Reading this book has been an experience so enchanting, that Iam eager to revisit each of the essays, to re submerge myself intheir expertise. If one is a gardener, this is a publicationreserved for cold winter nights or long plane rides; for thenon-gardener, it is an engaging private symposium. One might alsocall it "variations on a theme of gardening", enriched by diverseintellectual disciplines and unexpected perspectives of thecontributing writers." (Bookpleasures.com, 26 March 2011) "There's nothing too 'difficult' philosophically in this book,so definitely one for any thoughtful gardeners, philosophers ornot." (Wittgenstein's Watering Can, 21 April 2011) "Finally, we have a book which celebrates and examines the topicof gardens and gardening in a way that involves more than simplyhelping pick the perfect plant for your shady nook." (A Garden ofPossibilities, 18 April 2011) "The book is comprised of numerous essays by different authors,each with their own unique angle. I am very impressed thatPermaculture is mentioned at least once by name, andhunter-gatherers, foragers, and horticulturalists, are discussed inmany of the essays. Also, each author brings their own definitionof gardening, and some of them are broad enough to include the mostcutting edge forest gardens as well as many primitive peoples' landmanagement techniques. Even the essays with a more narrow view ofwhat a garden is had interesting thoughts of our interaction withplants and how that impacts us philosophically." (Nathan CarlosRupley, 15 April 2011) "Editor Dan O'Brien has assembled a collection of essays, amongwhich are Mara Miller's reflections upon the many layers of timeand change inherent in gardens, and the ways in which they affectpersona experiences, which illuminate how these may play intodesign considerations". (Garden Design Journal, 1 April 2011) "Gardening is not absent from philosophy; after all, Voltaire'sCandide ends with the admonition to cultivate our garden.'This book examines how gardening is like philosophy and vice versa.Much space is also given to political philosophy and somefascinating explorations into the political and philosophicalramifications of historical gardening in London and Aztec Mexico.The series is likely to appeal to armchair philosophers andundergraduates alike, and this volume will give gardeners of anintellectual bent a philosophical justification for their hobby."(Library Journal, March 2011) "A new book on the philosophy of gardening - edited by DanO'Brien and Fritz Allhoff - has been written by and for thegreen-thumbed thinker, the practical gardener, the salad gardener,the architect, the archaeologist, and the artist at work among theferns". (Horticulture Week, 12 January 2011) "Either way, it is an engaging and enjoyable read, and readersof the ERB will certainly want to stay tuned for future volumes inthis diverse - and apparently all-encompassing - series!".(Englewood Review of Books, 28 December 2010) "Another essay takes a slightly different slant on Miller'stheme, showing how gardens exist as patterns in time, just as musicdoes. Overall, too many of these essays treat of the garden as ametaphor rather than as an actuality. But such books are rarelyseen, and this one provides more than enough food for thought amidacres of identikit 'your kitchen-garden' and allotment books." (TheTelegraph, 7 December 2010)