Speaker's Meaning - Barfield, Owen

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Résumé :
'Speaker's Meaning' is a study of language, charting the evolution of human consciousness through the gulf between a speaker's use of words and their lexical definition. This evolution is directly opposed to the currently held assumption that mind is a product of matter, and conscious awareness simply the reaction patterns of a stimulated organism. Barfield argues that there is an inside to both man and nature, and that the mutual development of both can be traced from pre-history to the present and future via the use of language.

Biographie:
Owen Barfield was an English philosopher, author, poet, critic, and Inklings member. Barfield was born in London to Elizabeth and Arthur Edward Barfield (1864 1938). He had three older siblings, Diana (1891-1963), Barbara (1892-1951), and Harry (1895-1977). He attended Highgate School and Wadham College in Oxford before graduating with a first-class degree in English language and literature in 1920. After finishing his B. Litt., which became his third book, Poetic Diction, he dedicated himself to poetry and writing for over ten years. After 1934, he worked as an attorney in London, retiring in 1959 at the age of sixty. He then had several guest assignments as a Visiting Professor in North America. Barfield authored numerous essays, books, and articles. His principal concentration was on what he termed the evolution of consciousness, a concept that appears frequently in his writings. He is best known as the author of Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry and a founding father of Anthroposophy in English-speaking countries....

Sommaire:
Owen Barfield (1898-1997) was one of the twentieth century's most insightful writers and philosophers. His ideas informed the thinking and writing of influential authors such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien who were fellow members of the Inklings, an Oxford group of scholars.As a leading Anthroposophist in the English-speaking world, Barfield was especially interested in the evolution of human consciousness, exploring its development through the history of language.Thinkers and writers central to Barfield's work include Goethe, Coleridge, and Rudolf Steiner. Although best known for his non-fiction, such as 'Poetic Diction' and 'Saving the Appearances', Barfield also wrote poetry, fiction, and plays.T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Howard Nemerov, and Saul Bellow are among those who have praised Barfield's writing, and Barfield is often described as having a prophetic, powerful mind....