Barfield and the Peterson, Wilber, Vervaeke conversation

Owen Barfield has something crucial to offer to the discussions about the emerging consciousness of our times. The friend of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, and inspiration to figures like Alan Watts, has a fresh take on matters such as psychological development, the evolution of human consciousness, and our future through the meaning crisis. In this discussion, Mark Vernon highlights 3 ways in which Barfield offers a different perspective from the approaches driven by cognitive science and psychology. 1. He looks at how Barfield offers a narrative of human consciousness, as opposed to a series of cognitive maps. 2. How he sees our future in terms of spiritual return rather than psychological development. 3. How the question of ontological commitment, particularly in relation to spiritual reality and the divine, is key. A Secret History of Christianity: Jesus, the Last Inkling and the Evolution of Consciousness by Mark Vernon is published in August 2019. It examines Barfield's insights by telling the big history of the consciousness shaped by Christianity, as it was in the west. For more information, and for more films on Barfield, see www.markvernon.com.