This work approaches deep ecology as a philosophy. It compares deep ecology's philosophical ideas with other positions and debates in environmental philosphy and investigates the connections between deep ecology and other contemporary world views, such as continental philosophy.

The philosophy of deep ecology originated in the 1970s with the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess and has since spread around the world. Its basic premises are a belief that ecological principles should dictate human actions and moral evaluations, an emphasis on noninterference into natural processes, and a critique of materialism and technological progress. This book approaches deep ecology as a philosophy, not as a political, social or environmental movement. In part 1, the authors compare deep ecology's philosophical ideas with other positions and debates in environmental philosophy and to other schools of thought such as social ecology, ecofeminism and moral pluralism. In part 2, they investigate the connections between deep ecology and other contemporary world views, such as continental philosophy, postmodernism and non-Western philosophical traditions. The first anthology on deep ecology that is not primarily the work of the movement's followers, "Beneath the Surface" offers a rigorous assessment of deep ecology's strengths and weaknesses as a philosophical position.