R.B. Barnesphilosopher and cosmologist
The Monographs

Books

Cover of The Prior Grammar by R.B. Barnes
The Prior Grammar · R.B. Barnes
First book

The Prior Grammar

#1 New Release in Metaphysics & Cognitive Psychology

Two essays on the mind before language arrives. The Godhead Position examines the anatomy of moral sight: why observing another's conduct places us somewhere we did not choose to stand. The Superimposition follows Hitchcock and Sophocles into the held state in which two incompatible realities remain fully alive in a single mind.

ContentsThe Godhead Position · The Superimposition
PublisherIron Mirror
ISBN979-8-9961454-0-9
Cite: Barnes, R.B. The Prior Grammar. Iron Mirror, 2026.
Publishing July 2026Plastic SymbolismHow the Mind Makes Meaning Material
Second book

Plastic Symbolism

Twelve chapters. The book recovers the operation Freud named plastische Wortdarstellung and restores priority to Herbert Silberer. It demonstrates the conversion of meaning into bodily material across trauma, ideology, art, and the sacred.

It began as an essay of the same name, on the Substack.

ChaptersTwelve
PublisherIron Mirror
PublicationJuly 2026
Cite: Barnes, R.B. Plastic Symbolism: How the Mind Makes Meaning Material. Iron Mirror, 2026.
Amazon link at publication

For Children

Philosophers for Kids

Epictetus for Kids. An illustrated introduction to the Stoic: a boy whose name meant Bought, a leg, an order from the emperor, and a clay lamp. Complete and free on the Substack, beginning with chapters one and two. A collected edition is forthcoming.

Signed Copies

The author signs and ships a limited number of copies himself. The store opens soon; subscribers hear first.