Owen Barfield facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Owen Barfield
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Owen Barfield in 1937
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| Born | 9 November 1898 London, England |
| Died | 14 December 1997 (aged 99) Forest Row, England |
| Occupation | Philosopher, author, poet |
| Alma mater | Wadham College, Oxford |
Arthur Owen Barfield (born November 9, 1898 – died December 14, 1997) was a British thinker, writer, and poet. He was also a member of a famous group of writers called the Inklings.
Contents
Life and Work
Owen Barfield was born in London, England. He went to Highgate School and then to Wadham College, Oxford. In 1920, he earned a top degree in English language and literature.
After college, Barfield spent over ten years as a dedicated poet and writer. One of his early books, Poetic Diction, was based on his advanced research. Later, in 1934, he became a lawyer in London. He worked as a lawyer until he retired at age 60 in 1959.
After retiring, Barfield often visited North America as a guest professor. He wrote many essays, books, and articles. His main interest was something he called the "evolution of consciousness." This idea explores how human understanding and awareness have changed over time.
Barfield is most famous for his book Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry. He is also known as one of the first people to bring the ideas of Anthroposophy to the English-speaking world. Anthroposophy is a way of understanding human wisdom and the spiritual world.
Family Life
In 1923, Owen Barfield married Maud Douie, who was a musician and choreographer. They had two children, Alexander and Lucy. They also fostered a child named Geoffrey. Their only grandchild is Owen A. Barfield, Alexander's son.
After his wife passed away in 1980, Owen Barfield lived his final years in a retirement home. This home was in Forest Row, a village in East Sussex, England.
The Inklings: Friends and Thinkers
Owen Barfield was a key member of "The Inklings," a group of writers who met at Oxford University. He was even called "the first and last Inkling." He had a big impact on his friends, especially C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.
Their discussions helped Tolkien and Lewis see how important myths and stories are in language and literature. The Inklings' work helped to bring new life to Christian thought and imagination.
Friendship with C. S. Lewis
Barfield and C. S. Lewis met in 1919 when they were students at Oxford. They were close friends for 44 years. Their friendship was very important to Lewis. Barfield said that Lewis was "almost a part of the furniture of my existence."
When they first met, Lewis did not believe in God. Barfield played a big role in helping Lewis change his mind and become a Christian. Lewis realized that some friends agree with you, while others offer different ideas. He found Barfield's different views very helpful.
They had many deep discussions, which they jokingly called "The Great War." These talks helped Lewis move away from the idea that the world is only made of physical things. He began to believe in a spiritual side to reality. These conversations even influenced Lewis when he wrote his famous Narnia books.
Barfield was not only a friend and teacher to Lewis, but also his legal advisor. Lewis dedicated his first scholarly book, The Allegory of Love, to Barfield. He called Barfield his "wisest and best of my unofficial teachers."
Lewis also dedicated two of his Narnia books to Barfield's family. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was for Barfield's adopted daughter, Lucy Barfield. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was for Barfield's son, Geoffrey.
Influence on J. R. R. Tolkien
Barfield also had an important influence on J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In 1937, Tolkien mentioned Barfield in a letter about The Hobbit. He said that a certain idea in the book would only be understood by those who had read Barfield.
This idea appears when Bilbo Baggins sees the dragon Smaug's treasure. Bilbo is overwhelmed by the sight. Tolkien wrote that "there are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language that they learned of elves in the days when all was wonderful." This shows how language has changed from a time when people felt a deeper connection to things.
Lewis wrote to Barfield in 1928 that Tolkien felt Barfield's ideas had changed his whole way of thinking. Tolkien said that once you understood Barfield's idea of "ancient semantic unity," you would never say certain things again. This idea suggests that in the past, words had a more complete and unified meaning.
Barfield's ideas about "final participation" also influenced the Inklings. This is the idea of a fully conscious connection with nature. It suggests a spiritual view of reality. Tolkien showed this in The Lord of the Rings through the elves' artistry and the hobbits' simple love for nature.
Anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner
Owen Barfield became interested in anthroposophy after hearing a lecture by Rudolf Steiner in 1924. Steiner was an Austrian philosopher and social reformer. Barfield studied Steiner's work throughout his life and even translated some of his books.
Barfield's own early writings were sometimes published in anthroposophical magazines. While Steiner was a major influence, Barfield's ideas were still very original. One expert said that Barfield was to Steiner what Steiner was to the famous German writer Goethe. This means Barfield built on Steiner's ideas in his own unique way.
Impact and Ideas
Owen Barfield is known as both a Christian writer and a thinker who opposed "reductionism." Reductionism is the idea that complex things can always be understood by breaking them down into simpler parts. Barfield believed that some things, like consciousness, cannot be fully understood this way.
Many of his books have been republished, including Unancestral Voice and History in English Words. History in English Words explores how the meanings of words have changed over time. It uses this to tell the story of Western civilization.
His book Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry was named one of the "100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century" in 1999.
Poetic Diction
Barfield's book Poetic Diction looks at how poetry makes us feel things. But its main goal is to study "the meaning of words." Barfield shows how poets use imagination and metaphors to create new meanings.
He argues that this same process has been happening throughout human history. It has helped language grow and expand. For Barfield, this is not just about literature. It shows how human consciousness has evolved.
He believed that words originally had a single, "undivided" meaning. For example, the Greek word pneuma could mean "breath," "spirit," or "wind." Barfield thought this showed that ancient people saw these ideas as connected. He believed that early humans saw a unity in things that we now separate into different concepts.
Barfield felt that we need to rediscover this sense of unity. He thought it was important for consciousness to continue to grow.
Worlds Apart
Worlds Apart is one of Barfield's most interesting books. It's a fictional conversation between different kinds of experts. These include a physicist, a biologist, a psychiatrist, a lawyer, a theologian, and a teacher.
Over three days, they discuss how different areas of modern thought seem to disagree with each other. The conversation ends with the retired teacher explaining the anthroposophical point of view.
Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry
Saving the Appearances explores how human consciousness has developed over 3,000 years. Barfield argues that the way nature changes is connected to how our minds change. He believed that what we call "matter" interacts with our minds and wouldn't exist without them.
He suggested there's a deeper reality that our minds don't directly see. But unlike some other thinkers, Barfield thought we could sometimes experience this deeper reality.
Barfield pointed out that the "real" world of physics, with its tiny particles, is very different from the world we see and live in. The world we experience is full of objects with colors, sounds, and textures.
Major Books by Owen Barfield
- The Silver Trumpet (1925) – a novel
- History in English Words (1926)
- Poetic Diction: A Study In Meaning (1928)
- Saving the Appearances: a Study in Idolatry (1957)
- Worlds Apart: A Dialogue of the 1960s (1963)
- Speaker's Meaning (1967)
- What Coleridge Thought (1971)
Images for kids
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Owen Barfield in 1937
See also
In Spanish: Owen Barfield para niños
