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Title: C.S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea: In Defense of the Argument from Reason by Victor Reppert ISBN: 0-8308-2732-3 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Thought provoking argument against naturalism
Comment: Although oft neglected in many philosophical circles, the writings of C.S. Lewis still have something to teach us about reason, human nature, and human existence. Reppert defends Lewis' argument against naturalism which simply states that mankind's reasoning abilities cannot be trusted if they are a product of Darwinian evolution; In other words, if the human brain is nothing more than a complex conglomeration of atoms and energy, then we have no reason to trust our reasoning abilities because it is the product of nothing more than a chaotic collision of atoms. Furthermore, since natural selection is completely blind in it's selective process evolution does not necessarily favor an advanced reasoning capacity. Natural selection could have just as easily favored a mutation that makes us perceive the world contrary to the way it is if this facilitated the survival of human beings. Since we cannot trust reason itself under the naturalist/Darwinian paradigm then the scientific enterprise becomes totally superfluous and meaningless.
Although short, only 132 pages, I must admit Reppert's arguments are quite through and engaging. The only possible defense the Darwinist has against this argument is to say that advanced reasoning abilities favor man's survival and would thus be selected by nature. Yet, this argument doesn't necessarily have to be true and only begs the question since assumes what it is attempting to establish. In a discussion I recently had with an individual who studied psyhcolinguistics, I employed this argument against a materialist argument in favor of mind equating with brain. When I discussed Lewis' argument the individual I was talking with conceeded the point that relying on reason in the naturalist paradigm was tenuous and could not be relied upon.
This compact book also delves into the issue of dualism vs. materialism, or the argument over mind is synonomous with brain or whether mind and brain are dichotomous entities. I personally favor the dualist view since it meshes with my views as a theist and safeguards human integrity. The materialist view must necessarily deny free will since our brains are ruled by natural laws and therefore the atoms in the brain operate according to fixed laws that can be studied and accurately predicted. If free will is denied, then this has serious implications for our society in areas such as law, education, and religion. Although Reppert's arguments for dualism are not as deep as they could be, he does an admirable job arguing in favor of the dualist position. For further study in favor of the dualist position I would recommend reading J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig.
Rating: 2
Summary: Is Fritz different from Microsoft Word?
Comment: On page 64 , Victor writes ' But if naturalism is true, then this type of relationship, according to Lewis, is impossible.Events in nature are determined by the previous position of material particles, the laws of nature, and (perhaps) a chance factor.'
I don't understand this view of naturalism that Mr. Reppert and C.S.Lewis are attacking.
Computers are totally natural objects, and yet their workings are governed by software objects (print queues, variables, binary trees, indexes etc etc)
How does a print queue affect how a physical computer works, when there is no collection of atoms that you can point at and say 'That is the print queue'?
Surely , regardless of how Lewis commanded the universe to behave, it is just not true that logical relationships cannot be implemented by physical objects.
A computer is a counter-example.
Of course, Victor says computers were designed by humans.
But how did humans design computers unless physical objects like computers can be affected by logical relationships, something Victor and Lewis said was impossible.
Victor's whole book is based on a fallacy.
On page 79, Victor writes ''Whether a computer's activity is interpreted as a chess game or as a word-processing program will not affect the actual output of the computer, though no doubt it will affect the input that its users generate.'
Surely we cannot interpret Fritz to be a word-processing program, or Word to be a chess playing program, and Fritz and Word *do* behave differently, precisely because they are physically implementing different abstract rules.
Victor's logic is full of holes
Rating: 4
Summary: A Limited Scope, But Helpful to its Intended Audience
Comment: After opening with a discussion that dispels an apparent urban legend in philosophical circles -- that C.S. Lewis's apologetic foundations were dismantled during an exchange with Elisabeth Anscombe - Reppert states the main thesis he sets out to prove [p.45]:
"Does our very thinking provide evidence that theism is true?"
"The argument I will be presenting in this book will attempt to answer that question in the affirmative."
From this point, Reppert takes this argument ("the argument from reason") and runs it against the rival worldview of naturalism (or the view that nature is the end of all things) with this contradiction: in order to affirm that there is nothing transcendent above nature, one must employ transcendent principles. It gives pure naturalism an unwarranted title of absolute certainty.
In order to combat the specific arguments in favor of naturalism, Reppert engages in a thorough exegesis of formal logical arguments , which may not be legible to the layman reader seeking an apostolic tool, but will be of service to philosophy students trying to connect with the avenues of thought that confront their belief system. Reppert's book provides a reminder of the limits of pure philosophy in addressing the higher questions of life and the existence of a transcendent power.
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Title: Lewis Agonistes: How C.S. Lewis Can Train Us to Wrestle With the Modern and Postmodern World by Louis Markos ISBN: 0805427783 Publisher: Broadman & Holman Publishers Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
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Title: Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship by Colin Duriez ISBN: 1587680262 Publisher: Paulist Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church by Joseph Pearce ISBN: 0898709792 Publisher: Ignatius Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in the Lord of the Rings by Matthew T. Dickerson ISBN: 1587430851 Publisher: Brazos Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
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Title: Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview by J. P. Moreland, William Lane Craig ISBN: 0830826947 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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