• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • home
  • daily wisdom
  • essays
Jessica Böhme

Jessica Böhme

author, researcher, provocateur for eco-living.

  • books
  • tutoring

What Changed?

January 5, 2021 by jessicab

For thousands of years, people were as familiar with insects, rivers, plants, animals and the soil as we are today with brands, apps and Netflix shows. All living beings were seen as interconnected and sharing the same essence or spirit. This way of seeing the world is called animism. For the Stoics, God and matter were synonymous. Not just beings, but matter itself was divine. 

With Francis Bacon (1561-1626), the father of modern science, this changed. Bacon called for the domination of nature. And Descartes – clever as he was – realised that we can only justify to dominate nature, if it was rendered lifeless. He sliced humans and the rest of the world into two. This came to be known as dualism. And his theory of matter came to be known as a mechanical philosophy. 

This view allowed us to objectify everything non-human (beings and matter) and even other humans. It also allowed us to think of nature as something external. And because it’s external, we can exploit, destroy and marginalise her.

Filed Under: daily wisdom

Footer

Weekly Wisdom

Join hundreds of wise souls and sign up to my popular weekly wisdom newsletter for eco-living. ↓

legal details

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 · Revolution Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

I use cookies to ensure that you get the best experience ever. If you continue to use this site I assume that you are happy with it.Ok