Being and Value begins with a discussion on metaphysics, showing the vital relationship between human life and the philosophical placement of value, and emphasizing the current transition from the old mechanical worldview to the postmodern alternative inspired by ecology.

Being and Value shows how intimately premodern philosophy bound value into the fabric of things, and analyzes the expulsion of value from factual being during the modern period. Special attention is given to beauty: What is the relationship between the subjective and objective conditions of beauty? Is the beauty of nature merely the product of human appreciation? The answer is that beauty—and value—is a more potent ingredient in the structure of things than modern reductionism allows.