Owen Barfield on Science, Technology, and the Modern Crisis of Meaning

Abstract

Landon Loftin examines Barfield’s critique of scientism, positivism, and society’s ability to control its circumstances through technological innovation in such works as Poetic Diction, The Rediscovery of Meaning, and “The Coming Trauma of Materialism.” This article looks at how Barfield understood these philosophies and notions of progress to create a diminished sense of meaning in modern people’s lives, and how his assertion that there is truth can aid in recovering lost meaning.