Nature and community in Western culture: Wendell Berry's alternative tradition

Donna Daniel Schindler, The University of Texas School of Public Health

Abstract

This dissertation is an examination of the ideals and practices that have characterized Western culture's relationship to the natural world. The conventional approach, depicted by some of the most prominent ecological publications of recent years, criticizes the Western tradition for both its ideals and practices. The ideals are assumed to be best represented in Western philosophy and religion and both of these sources have been indicted. These ideals are coupled with the Western way of life that is equally indicted as exploitive and destructive. Author, professor and farmer, Wendell Berry, offers an alternative to these indictments. Berry insists that a theme, advocating ecological accountability, runs through some of the West's most significant literature and that Western tradition contains a practice that can support these ecological principles.

Subject Area

American studies|American literature|Environmental science|Cultural anthropology|Literature

Recommended Citation

Schindler, Donna Daniel, "Nature and community in Western culture: Wendell Berry's alternative tradition" (2001). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI3027652.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI3027652

Share

COinS