Surprised by Joy
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| + | "[[Owen Barfield|Barfield]] never made me an [[Anthroposophist]], but his counterattacks destroyed forever two elements in my own thought. In the first place he made short work of what I have called my "[[chronological snobbery]]," the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone [[out of date]] is on that account discredited. You must find why it went out of date. Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where, and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, this tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood. From seeing this, one passes to the realization that our own age is also "a period," and certainly has, like all periods, its own characteristic illusions. They are likeliest to lurk in those widespread assumptions which are so [[ingrained]] in the age that no one dares to attack or feels it necessary to defend them."--''[[Surprised by Joy]]'' (1955) by C. S. Lewis | ||
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| - | '''Chronological snobbery''' is an argument that the thinking, art, or science of an earlier time is ''inherently'' inferior to that of the present, simply by virtue of its temporal priority. The term was coined by [[C. S. Lewis]] and [[Owen Barfield]] (most likely during the first half of the 20th Century). | + | '''''Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life''''' is a partial [[autobiography]] published by [[C. S. Lewis]] in 1955. Specifically, the book describes the author's conversion to [[Christianity]] which had taken place 24 years earlier. |
| - | ==Explanation== | + | In the book, the author refers to ''Tristram Shandy'' in the context of trying to describe his interactions with his own father. |
| - | As Barfield explains it, it is the belief that "intellectually, humanity languished for countless generations in the most childish errors on all sorts of crucial subjects, until it was redeemed by some simple scientific dictum of the last century." The subject came up between them when Barfield had converted to [[Anthroposophy]] and was seeking to get Lewis (an [[atheist]] at the time) to join him. One of Lewis's objections was that religion was simply outdated, and in ''[[Surprised by Joy]]'' (chapter 13, p. 207–208), he describes how this was fallacious: | + | |
| - | :[[Owen Barfield|Barfield]] never made me an Anthroposophist, but his counterattacks destroyed forever two elements in my own thought. In the first place he made short work of what I have called my "chronological snobbery," the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited. You must find why it went out of date. Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where, and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, this tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood. From seeing this, one passes to the realization that our own age is also "a period," and certainly has, like all periods, its own characteristic illusions. They are likeliest to lurk in those widespread assumptions which are so ingrained in the age that no one dares to attack or feels it necessary to defend them. | + | <blockquote>My father - but these words, at the head of a paragraph, will carry the reader's mind inevitably to Tristram Shandy. On second thoughts I am content that they should. It is only in a Shandean spirit that my matter can be approached. I have to describe something as odd and whimsical as ever entered the brain of Sterne; and if I could, I would gladly lead you to the same affection for my father as you have for Tristram's. |
| + | </blockquote> | ||
| - | <!-- | + | The text of ''Tristram Shandy'' in fact uses "my father" at the head of a paragraph fifty-one times. |
| - | We will accept only examples that are sourced from the original authors (Lewis and Barfield) or other sources that specifically give examples of this kind of reasoning. | + | |
| - | --> | + | |
| - | A manifestation of chronological snobbery is the usage in general of the word "medieval" to mean "backwards". | + | |
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| - | ==See also== | + | |
| - | *[[Argumentum ad novitatem]] | + | |
| - | *[[Genetic fallacy]] | + | |
| - | *[[Historian's fallacy]] | + | |
| - | *[[Presentism (literary and historical analysis)]] | + | |
| - | *[[Whig history]] | + | |
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"Barfield never made me an Anthroposophist, but his counterattacks destroyed forever two elements in my own thought. In the first place he made short work of what I have called my "chronological snobbery," the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited. You must find why it went out of date. Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where, and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, this tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood. From seeing this, one passes to the realization that our own age is also "a period," and certainly has, like all periods, its own characteristic illusions. They are likeliest to lurk in those widespread assumptions which are so ingrained in the age that no one dares to attack or feels it necessary to defend them."--Surprised by Joy (1955) by C. S. Lewis |
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Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life is a partial autobiography published by C. S. Lewis in 1955. Specifically, the book describes the author's conversion to Christianity which had taken place 24 years earlier.
In the book, the author refers to Tristram Shandy in the context of trying to describe his interactions with his own father.
My father - but these words, at the head of a paragraph, will carry the reader's mind inevitably to Tristram Shandy. On second thoughts I am content that they should. It is only in a Shandean spirit that my matter can be approached. I have to describe something as odd and whimsical as ever entered the brain of Sterne; and if I could, I would gladly lead you to the same affection for my father as you have for Tristram's.
The text of Tristram Shandy in fact uses "my father" at the head of a paragraph fifty-one times.
