Gregor Schiemann defends the relevance of Aristotle's and Descartes' concept of nature, which defines nature in contrast to the non-natural. These traditional concepts however prove to be valid only within limited contexts. In the first part of his book, the author demonstrates that both Aristotle's view of nature as a counterpart to technology and Descartes' dualism of nature and mind have remained as guiding principles for our own experience of consciousness. Using Aristotle's doctrine of the soul and Descartes' mechanism as examples, Schiemann then shows that there is cross-fertilisation between these conceptual pairs. This natural-philosophical and epistemological study combines elements of analytical philosophy with approaches from phenomenology. It aims to contribute to a plural understanding of nature, which abandons claims to universal validity.