Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry
| Saving the Appearances | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the 1988 Wesleyan second edition |
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| Author(s) | Owen Barfield |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Subject(s) | Consciousness Philosophy of science Philosophy of mind Religion and science |
| Publisher | Wesleyan, Barfield Press |
| Publication date | 1957 |
| Media type | Paperback, Hardcover |
| Pages | 191 (Wesleyan ed.) |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0955958281 |
| Dewey Decimal | 126 |
| LC Classification | BL240.2.B38 1988 |
| Preceded by | This Ever Diverse Pair (1950) |
| Followed by | Worlds Apart: A Dialogue of the 1960s (1963) |
Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry is a book by philosopher Owen Barfield, on the relationship between Christianity, Romanticism, Romantic poetry, and philosophy. The book was Barfield's favorite and the one that he most wanted to be continued to be read.[1]
It was first published in England in 1957, and it was first issued in paperback in the United States in 1965. According to Barfield, the book enjoyed a far greater reception by the public in North America—particularly in the United States, where Barfield often accepted invitations to lecture—than it did in England.[2]
The book explores approximately three thousand years of history—particularly the history of human consciousness.
Barfield describes the growth of human consciousness as an interaction with nature, leading the reader to a fresh understanding of man's history, circumstances, and destiny. Saving the Appearances has in common with some thoughts of Teilhard de Chardin the understanding of idols as appearances having nothing within. "[A] representation, which is collectively mistaken for an ultimate - ought not to be called a representation. It is an idol. Thus the phenomena themselves are idols, when they are imagined as enjoying that independence of human perception which can in fact only pertain to the unrepresented."[3]
Contents |
[edit] Reception
Saving the Appearances is regarded by Philip Zaleski as being among the 100 most prominent spiritual books of the twentieth century.[4] Theologian Thomas J. J. Altizer said of the work, "I believe that this book is potentially one of the truly seminal works of our time."[5] When the editors of The American Scholar asked noted classicist Norman O. Brown to identify the book published in the last decade which he found himself going back most often to, he responded, "I want to name Owen Barfield’s Saving the Appearances".[6]
[edit] Notes and references
[edit] Sources
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- Altizer, Thomas J. J. (1964-10). "Worlds Apart and Saving the Appearances: a review". Journal of Bible and Religion 32 (4): 384–385. ISSN 08852758. http://www.davidlavery.net/Barfield/Barfield_Scholarship/Altizer.html. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
- Barfield, Owen (2011), 'Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry, Barfield Press UK, pp. 244, ISBN 978-0955958281
- Norman O. Brown (Summer, 1965), "Letter in "The Revolving Bookstand,"", The American Scholar XXXIV: 478
- David Lavery, "How Barfield Thought:The Creative Life of Owen Barfield" (pdf), The Collected Works of David Lavery, http://davidlavery.net/Collected_Works/Essays/How_Barfield_Thought.pdf, retrieved 2011-03-12
- Simon Blaxland-De Lange (2006), Owen Barfield, Romanticism Comes of Age: a Biography, London: Temple Lodge
- David Lavery, Encyclopedia Barfieldiana, http://www.davidlavery.net/Barfield/Encyclopedia_Barfieldiana/Encyclopedia_Barfieldiana.html This encyclopedia on Barfield provides large numbers of articles of commentary and cross referencing of the concepts and specialized lexicon used in Saving the Appearances and other works.
- Lavery, David, "Saving the Appearances:A Study in Idolatry", Encyclopedia Barfieldiana, http://davidlavery.net/barfield/Encyclopedia_Barfieldiana/Works_Barfield/Saving.html, retrieved 2011-01-09 The specific article on the book was also published by same author in "An Owen Barfield Readers Guide." Seven 15 (1998): 97-112
- Philip Zaleski (1999-11-04), "The 100 best spiritual books", The Dallas Morning News (Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service), http://www.faith.com/library/articlesfaith/articles/f_lib_books_home_bestlist.html, retrieved 2011-01-09
[edit] Further reading
- The "Other" Postmodern Theorist: Owen Barfield’s Concept of the Evolution of Consciousness Richard A. Hocks
- "How I Was Brought to Discover Owen Barfield.". http://www.usca.edu/math/~mathdept/hsg/barfield.html. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
- Tripp, Raymond P. (2002-03-01). Thoreau, Dickinson, and Barfield and the world as window of opportunity.: An article from: Journal of Evolutionary Psychology. Institute for Evolutionary Psychology.
- Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, SAVING THE APPEARANCES The Phenomenology of Epiphany in Atomist Theology Version 1.0; May 2006, Jacob L. Mackey, Princeton University
- Living as Part of the Whole: the implications of participation, Peter Reason, Curriculum and Pedagogy, August 2005
- "CHAPTER TWO". http://people.bath.ac.uk/mnspwr/Participationinhumaninquiry/CHAPTER2.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-28.[dead link]
