Owen Barfield and the Redemption of the Western Mind

March 27th to March 29th, 2009

Owen Barfield (1898-1997) was an English solicitor whose interest in language and in the evolution of human consciousness reflected in the history of words led him to recognise, devotedly study and apply the insights of the spiritual-scientific fruits of Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophical research.
Out of this wellspring, his acute mind applied itself to virtually the entire panorama of the Western cultural and social world-picture, searingly questioning and challenging its assumptions and breaking down its taboos – while also clearly demonstrating that there is another, and more satisfyingly reasonable, way looking at things.
However, the chief purpose of this conference is to work towards a discovery of what this fearlessly independent creative English thinker has achieved by way of experientially illumining the deep philosophical quest of the German spirit by which he has himself been so richly inspired.

It therefore seemed wholly appropriate for a conference of this nature - on a figure whose thinking bestrides the intellectual journey from Hamlet to Prospero - to take place at the Goetheanum.

Please note: The conference will be in English