Scientific investigations have provided us with a conception of our unity and interdependence with the natural world and its origins in the unfolding of the cosmos. In particular, our scientific understanding of the biological development of the relatively small range of self-organising multicellular structures, from eggs and spores, points towards the view that life is one of the properties of matter. The name for this kind of scientifically formulated animism is hylozoism. This is the philosophical term given to the view that life is one of the properties of matter; from the combining form hylo-, "matter," and the Greek root zoe, "life". It defines a role and place for science in the identification of self with the cosmos. This is an outcome of the ideas of transpersonal psychology, and claims that ecology, and modern science in general, provides a compelling account of our interconnectedness with the universe. However, they do not claim that this fact logically implies that we ought to care about the world.

The fact of our interconnectedness with the world does not logically imp, either that we ought to care about the world of which we are a integral part, or that we ought not to care about it. In other words, logic is of no help to us, either way in connection with the practical question of how we should live. If one has a deep understanding of the fact that we and all other entities are aspects of a single developing cosmic reality, then one will (as opposed to should) naturally be inclined to care for the unfolding of the world in all its aspects. In other words, because we are interconnected with the universe, the unfolding of human potentialities is a natural (i.e., spontaneous) consequence of being a part of cosmic development, and we can scarcely refrain from responding in this way. This is why one finds transpersonal ecologists making statements to the effect, that they are more concerned with the general question of the way the universe works than with ethics.

In summary, transpersonal ecologists reject value systems that are based on moral "oughts". They do not attempt to prove the correctness of their views in such a way that their conclusions are morally binding on others. Care for the unfolding of the world in all its aspects is not a logical consequence, but a psychological consequence of the spontaneous development and maturing of the self, within the cosmic flows of matter and energy.

We have to look to the Eastern spiritual traditions for the comprehensive development of ideas of the super conscious, trans-egoic, or transpersonal realm of being. In particular, transpersonal ecology is close to the Taoist ideal of living in harmony with the nature of things, by allowing them to develop or unfold in their own way.

Regarding the seamless identification of the self with nature, Joanna Macy has put it graphically in this way:

"Indeed, I consider that this shift to an emphasis on our capacity to identify with the larger collective of all beings is essential to our survival at this point in history, precisely because it can serve in lieu of morality and because moralising is ineffective. Sermons seldom hinder us from pursuing our self-interest, so we need to be a little more enlightened about what our self-interest is. It would not occur to me, for example, to exhort you to refrain from cutting off your leg. That wouldn't occur to me or to you, because your leg is part of you. Well, so are the trees in the Amazon Basin; they are our external lungs. We are just beginning to wake up to that. We are gradually discovering that we are our world"