ABSTRACT
A good deal of the disagreement about the direction of agricultural research is grounded in differing assessments of human nature—of human desire; of human potential; of human character; and of the human condition. Empirical findings about human nature can be interpreted in very different ways. The chapter presents survey of images of human nature which focuses on three issues: the nature of humans, hope, and freedom. The main problem that concerns Wendell Berry with respect to human nature is why so many people in industrialized countries are bewildered, distrustful of others, cut off from communities, dissatisfied with their own lot, but at a loss about where to turn. The cultural transformations must come from within, Berry places great emphasis on the possibility and the meaning of freedom, or more precisely, of human agency. The going assumption seems to be that freedom can be granted only by an institution, that it is the gift of the government to its people.
