Blog Watch: "Wendell Berry: A New Language of Place"

Berry believes that this exodus from the countryside has been ideologically backed by “diseased thinking” (The Art of the Commonplace) which has encouraged people to abscond from their responsibilities to a place.  In his writings, Berry elucidates four elements of the diseased mind which alienate people from each other, themselves, and the earth: 1) a pernicious dualism between body and mind, where the mind is to be privileged over the body and subsequently the land; 2) an unwavering faith that technological progress will increase human happiness by freeing humans from the drudgery of physical work; 3) reductionist metaphors of humanity and nature as complex machinery; and 4) a hubristic notion that given enough time humanity can (and will) know everything.  Berry’s writing continually envisions the negative ramifications each idea has had for how we treat ourselves, each other, and our place.

via dougsikkema.wordpress.com