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The Optimistic Curmudgeon is an interview podcast where Josh Herring interviews expert guests whose credentials and experience help listeners understand truth in a confusing world. We discuss issues under seven areas: economics, politics, education, philosophy, business, virtue, and leadership! May the best ideas win.
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Monday May 05, 2025
Owen Barfield, Language, and Meaning, with Dr. Landon Loftin (8x8)
Monday May 05, 2025
Monday May 05, 2025
Landon Loftin, author of What Barfield Thought: An Introduction to the Work of Owen Barfield with Max Leyf, discusses Barfield's role in the Inklings, focus on language, and friendship with Lewis. The conversation draws mostly from Barfield's History in English Words. Loftin goes into specific detail about Barfield's pro-life work, and the connection between humans as rational, linguistic beings and protecting them from abortion. Lewis dedicated The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to Lucy Barfield, Owen Barfield's daughter (and Lewis's goddaughter); their friendship was rich, and Barfield's theory of language and human consciousness sits behind much of what Tolkien and Lewis wrote. Where is meaning? What is language? How does human consciousness relate to words? For these questions, Dr. Loftin is our best guide into Barfield.
Link to What Barfield Thought: https://www.amazon.com/What-Barfield-Thought-Introduction-Work/dp/1666736767
Link to The Rediscovery of Meaning - https://www.owenbarfield.org/selected-books/the-rediscovery-of-meaning/
Sponsor Link: https://americaschristiancu.com/personal
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