Professor Bob Pepperman Taylor says he never intended to study in detail famed American philosopher Henry David Thoreau.

But intentional or not, he’s become a Thoreau scholar — and his book on the philosopher’s most famous work has earned plaudits.  

Taylor, who teaches in the Department of Political Science, published “Lessons From Walden: Thoreau and the Crisis of American Democracy” in March 2020. Last fall, it received a best book award from the American Political Science Association.

“I had no idea that I'd been nominated for it,” said Taylor, who teaches courses on the history of political thought, among other subjects. “I just got a call and I was told that it won the award, and I was very pleased. I'm very thankful; it's a great honor. I'll take it and just hope they don't go back and change their mind.”

Taylor takes away many truths from Thoreau’s “Walden,” first published in 1854, and one seems especially relevant today: that nature holds important lessons if people choose to listen. Thoreau “is the founding figure, (in the American tradition), of someone who's thought really seriously about both politics and nature,” Taylor said.

Reading Thoreau doesn’t give modern society a plan to address climate change or other issues facing nature, he said.  

“But what we do find is somebody who wrestled mightily with both sets of questions and viewed them as flip sides of the same coin in some ways,” he said, “and even if he can't give us formulaic solutions to our problems, he can inspire a form of thinking that I think is very helpful because our environmental problems and our democratic problems are deeply intertwined now.”

Taylor points to immigration as a political and social problem that “is going to get nothing but worse as climate change gets nothing but worse,” as natural disasters and changing temperatures force people to move around the globe.

“It will lead to attacks on democracy and attacks on immigrants,” Taylor said. “We have to think about these things as being interrelated, and Thoreau is a model for thinking about that.”

“Lessons from Walden” came out of a larger project that Taylor has been working on — a more expansive book about democracy in America and the problems that come with defending that democracy. He is currently working on a chapter about education in America, which might also become its own standalone book, he said, with a nod to how unexpected the creative process can be.

“God willing,” he said. “And if the waters don't rise.”