Drawing on ethnographic research with Indigenous communities in Ecuador's Upper Amazon, this article argues that living well on a fragmented planet requires ecologizing ethics by understanding the living world as a "thinking forest" that is psychedelic or mind-manifesting in nature. Ethical guidance emerges from attending to the shape of the larger mind humans are part of, finding direction from that form. The article links an ecologized ethics to the aesthetic ground from which it arises, showing how humans can learn to relate ethically to the many kinds of others that constitute them.
How social theorists conceptualize the material world shapes their approaches to environmental challenges of the Anthropocene. This article contrasts panpsychist theory—which holds that consciousness is a fundamental and ubiquitous property of the natural world—with vital materialism and property dualist historical materialism. It argues that vital materialism tends to diminish human value and responsibility, while property dualist historical materialism tends to devalue and instrumentalize nature. Panpsychism is presented as a basis for addressing these deficiencies, particularly regarding intrinsic value in nature, which the author argues depends on consciousness.