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Book Recommendation: Works by C.S. Lewis, a Political Thinker
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| Gary L. Gregg, Ph.D |
I recently reviewed two new books on C.S. Lewis for The University Bookman. I review Aliser E. McGrath's The Intellectual World of C.S. Lewis and Justin Buckley Dyer's and Michael J. Watson's C.S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law.
Here are a couple of snippets from that review:
...Lewis the apologist, the popularizer of Christian thinking and traditions, and the author of the Narnia series is well remembered. The life of C. S. Lewis—his conversion from atheism to Christianity, his life as an Oxford academic, and his wartime speeches on the BBC radio—is well known. Books about nearly every facet of his life abound. Two recent books have emerged, however, that help us explore some underappreciated aspects of Lewis’s life and legacy. The acclaimed Lewis biographer, Alister E. McGrath (C. S. Lewis—A Life: Eccentric Genius. Reluctant Prophet), has written an exploration of The Intellectual World of C. S. Lewis....Starting with a useful short biography, McGrath proceeds with articles on Lewis as an autobiographer, his understanding of reason and imagination, his concept of myth, his method of argument, and his identity as a theologian and churchgoer....
This brings us straight to the heart of Justin Buckley Dyer’s and Micah J. Watson’s C. S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law. Lewis’s political views are considered broadly as those elements of life concerning us as communal beings, such as philosophy, culture, education, economics, and public policy. His political views can be understood, at least to some extent, as reactions to his own former allegiances. Despite assertions to the contrary, Lewis knew of what he spoke, and he spoke much of politics. Dyer and Watson’s starting point is the common assumption that Lewis was not a political thinker and was largely unconcerned with politics. Several family members and friends have made this assertion and most biographers treat him as relatively apolitical.
This has been a puzzle to me over the years, as even a cursory look at Lewis’s essays—though seldom as read today as his other books—shows his engagement with demonstrably political concepts and concerns. We find him seriously concerned with equality and egalitarianism, for instance, and the dangers he sees in those commitments becoming ideological fixations. We find him writing on vivisection (against), the welfare state (against), pacifism (against), historicism (against), democracy (concerned), nuclear war (eh, we’re gonna die anyway), education (what we need is not what we want), and criminal punishment (yes, please)....
Read the full reviews on the University Bookman's site.
Gary L. Gregg, Ph.D. directs the McConnell Center, a nonpartisan program at the University of Louisville that attracts the best and brightest students from around Kentucky and grooms them for careers in effective leadership. Since 2000, he has also held the Mitch McConnell Chair in Leadership at the University of Louisville. Views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the McConnell Center.
This brings us straight to the heart of Justin Buckley Dyer’s and Micah J. Watson’s C. S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law. Lewis’s political views are considered broadly as those elements of life concerning us as communal beings, such as philosophy, culture, education, economics, and public policy. His political views can be understood, at least to some extent, as reactions to his own former allegiances. Despite assertions to the contrary, Lewis knew of what he spoke, and he spoke much of politics. Dyer and Watson’s starting point is the common assumption that Lewis was not a political thinker and was largely unconcerned with politics. Several family members and friends have made this assertion and most biographers treat him as relatively apolitical.
This has been a puzzle to me over the years, as even a cursory look at Lewis’s essays—though seldom as read today as his other books—shows his engagement with demonstrably political concepts and concerns. We find him seriously concerned with equality and egalitarianism, for instance, and the dangers he sees in those commitments becoming ideological fixations. We find him writing on vivisection (against), the welfare state (against), pacifism (against), historicism (against), democracy (concerned), nuclear war (eh, we’re gonna die anyway), education (what we need is not what we want), and criminal punishment (yes, please)....
Read the full reviews on the University Bookman's site.
Gary L. Gregg, Ph.D. directs the McConnell Center, a nonpartisan program at the University of Louisville that attracts the best and brightest students from around Kentucky and grooms them for careers in effective leadership. Since 2000, he has also held the Mitch McConnell Chair in Leadership at the University of Louisville. Views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the McConnell Center.
This recommendation is part of the McConnell Center's Meditations publication series, which features the center's educational resources in a monthly e-newsletter. Content includes a great books podcast series hosted by McConnell Center Director Gary Gregg, book recommendations, student research and writing, and notable lectures available in video format. Subscribe