Morris Berman's 1989 history of the body and consciousness in Western civilization — arguing that Western history can be understood as a progressive loss of somatic awareness and embodied knowledge, from heretical body-wisdom traditions through Cartesian mind-body dualism to modern alienation.
Provides a bodily history of Western alienation — Berman argues that Descartes' mind-body split, the persecution of heretical body traditions (Cathars, witches), and the triumph of abstract rationalism constitute a progressive deadening of embodied awareness that underlies modern Western dysfunction.
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