Over the past few hundred years animism has been dismissed as a primitive naive & irrational perspective irrelevant within the civilised West. In The Wakeful World Emma Restall Orr argues that this is based on the misrepresentation drawn in crayon that each tree & stone has its own Christian-like immortal soul. Taking the reader on a philosophical adventure Restall Orr explores the heritage of Western thought with precision enthusiasm & sensitivity considering how soul spirit mind & consciousness have been understood through millennia. Challenging the prevailing worldviews of materialism & dualism she presents animism as a radically different yet mature & coherent philosophy. Providing deep green ethics with a wholly rational metaphysical foundation The Wakeful World is a compelling view of the nature of existence & the experience of reality giving solid ground for the now necessary journey to a sustainable world.