ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book outlines that the literature on Hinduism and the environment is vast, and growing quickly. Much of this literature is concerned, at least in part, with the question of whether certain Hindu texts and traditions prescribe the proper treatment of nature. It argues that the standard arguments against the claim that certain Hindu texts and traditions attribute direct moral standing to animals and plants are unconvincing. While non-harm toward animals and plants is often cited as a means to the attainment of liberation, it cannot be that animals and plants matter only as a means to the attainment of liberation. Some of these arguments claim that certain Hindu texts and traditions entail that all of nature is interconnected, and hence that all of nature, including animals and plants, has direct moral standing.
