# Philosophy of CS Lewis
### Introductions
## Why are you here?
* 3x5 cards
- name
- hometown
- major
- email (if different from Asbury)
- draw a picture of yourself
## About me
- Grew up in the South... of CA
- First time living outside the country
## About me
- "Graduate student in philosophy", i.e., prol
- Life long Lewis fan, used to teach "Inklings"
## About you
* Name
* Hometown
* Something you are hoping for/ fearing from this class?
## What is this class about?
Open your syllabus or follow [online.](/syllabus251)
## What is this class about?
- Description
- Goals
- Scope and sequence
## Grading
|Assignments | Percent of grade |
-------------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| Reading & Quizzes | 30% |
| Participation (talk, write, present) | 30% |
| Unit Papers | 40% |
## Attendance
- We need you here! Attendance is mandatory.
- Roll will be taken each class by marking a 3x5 card.
- Being repeatedly or egregiously late will count as an absence.
- You may check your absences at any time by requesting to see your card.
- I recommend you aim for perfect attendance to maximize your learning. You are paying for this education including this class, so why wouldn’t you make the most of it?
## Attendance
- I give everyone 3 "Personal absences" to use for any reason
- Use your 3 for emergencies, family visits, sickness, sports, or sleep -- or don't!
- After 3, the 4th requires an excuse
## Attendance
- 1 = -0
- 2 = -0
- 3 = -0
- 4 = -2%
- 5 = -4%
- 6 = -10% (a letter grade)
- 7 = -12%
- 8 = -14%
- 9 = -50%
- Participation
- Critical Readings
- Unit Papers
- Extra credit
### Miscellany:
- Participate
- Stay focused.
- No smart phones.
- Laptop users in front row.
### Course Outline
- The outline tells you the reading due and the topic for each day.
- It also provides detailed notes to help you prepare your thoughts.
- It is subject to revisions due to snow days, instructor sickness, academic conferences, etc.
- Week 1
- **M Aug-15 Syllabus Day** What are realistic expectations for this class? What are ambitious goals?
- **W Aug-17 Meditations in a Toolshed** What are the two ways of looking at things? What is the difference between looking at and looking along?
- **F Aug-19 Peter Kreeft, Truth** Is truth objective?
* Questions?
* Write a short response: "What are your HIGHEST HOPES for this class after our first meeting?""
* Next class: Lewis Bio
* Discuss: [Lewis, "Meditations on a Toolshed"](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0CYQDZ8AWu8YjN0MFl2aGN0WTg)
* You can review these slideshows! -- drbuhler.com/slideshows
# Philosophy of CS Lewis
### Who is lewis?
- Clive Staples Lewis was born 1898 and died in 1963.
- He was born before the sinking of the Titanic, WWI, WWII, the Sexual Revolution.
### Brief Bio
For most of his life, "Jack" worked as professor of literature at Oxford or Cambridge.
Was born in Belfast, Ireland.
- Moved to England in 1908, at 10 years old.
- After school ended up in Oxford University in 1916, at 18 years old.
- Went to war with the British Army for 1 year.
- Fought, was injured, and sent home.
- Finished his studies at Oxford: received "firsts" Greek and Latin, "Greats" (Philosophy and Ancient History), and English
- Became a philosophy tutor in 1924, at 26 years old, but could not find a full-time post.
- Became a Fellow in English Literature at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he served for 29 years.
- Moved to Cambridge, where he was chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature, and taught until he died
- For most of his life, was a bachelor though he lived with Jane Moore, his old friend's mother
- Married Joy Davidman Gresham in 1956, at 58 years old
- Died in 1963, a few minutes before JFK was assassinated
- Commemorated as a saint on 22 November by the Episcopalians
### Philosophy
- Irish Catholic (birth - age 10)
- Atheist (10-33)
- Anglican Christian (33-65)
- Norse mythology and science
- intuition and rationality
- wisdom and knowledge
- poetry and philosophy
- fairy tales and history
- Christianity and atheism
## Sehnsucht
We will discuss on Friday.
## Meditation in a Toolshed
1. What is the difference between looking at and looking "along"?
2. Which is more accurate?
3. Why we can't discount them all: a. "You can't think at all if you have nothing to think about." Does looking along provides the raw material for looking at? Primary experience provides the raw material for reflective experience? b. Look at is also an instance looking along. So if all looking alongs are false, then looking at is false too.
4. "One must look both *along* and at everything."
5. Other examples.
## 2 minutes left
* Questions?
* Write a short response: How can two points of view be reconciled?
* Friday: discuss Higgins video
# Philosophy of CS Lewis
### Truth and Longing
### Truth and Longing
>“Truth is saying of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not.” (Aristotle)
Reality —> Thought —> Expression in language
Truth itself True thought True statement
## Nihilism
* What is the opposite of truth?
* The denial of truth — objective truth — is nihilism, the denial of reality itself.
* Hence, Gorgias of Athens said:
>Nothing exists;
> Even if something exists, nothing can be known about it; and
> Even if something can be known about it, knowledge about it can't be communicated to others.
## Nihilism
Hence, also, Nietszsche:
>*“It is true, there could be a metaphysical world; the absolute possibility of it is hardly to be disputed. We behold all things through the human head and cannot cut off this head; while the question nonetheless remains what of the world would still be there if one had cut it off.”*
*Human, All Too Human*, s.9, R.J. Hollingdale transl.
### Truth and Longing
- We *must* accept the truth, even if it is ugly.
- We *are free* enjoy the beautiful, high, voluptuous, and splendid Northernness, even if it is false.
## What if the beautiful were true, and the truth beautiful?
## What is Higgins' basic thesis?
The main theme of Lewis' corpus is joy, or Zehnsuchte.
[Sorina Higgins'](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.mythgardacademy/GuestLectureSeries/2014-10-07_TheHeraldryofHeaven.mp4)
## 2 minutes left
* Is Kreeft right?
* Questions?
* Write a short response: is truth objective?
* Start Mere Christianity! Read Book I (first five chapters)