C. S. Lewis’s Argument against Naturalism (trans. Anna Mazurek and Michał Buraczewski

Keywords: naturalism; C. S. Lewis; “the cardinal difficulty of naturalism”; argument against naturalism; reasoning

Abstract

Original: Peter van Inwagen, “C. S. Lewis’s Argument against Naturalism”, The Journal of Inklings Studies 1 (2011), no. 2 (October): 25–40. Translation with permission of the author.

This paper is an evaluation of the argument of Chapter 3 (“The Cardinal Difficulty of Naturalism”) of the second edition of C. S. Lewis’s Miracles. This argument is an attempt to demonstrate that naturalism implies that none of our beliefs is based on reasoning — a “cardinal difficulty for naturalism,” since a belief in naturalism that was not based on reasoning would be irrational. The conclusion of the paper is Lewis’s argument fails to show that naturalism implies that none of our beliefs is based on reasoning.

Author Biographies

Anna Mazurek, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

Translator
PhD student

Michał Buraczewski, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

Translator
PhD student

References

Anscombe, G. E. M. „A Reply to Mr C. S. Lewis’s Argument that ‘Naturalism’ is Self-Refuting”. The Socratic Digest 4 (1948): 7–15. Reprint: G. E. M. Anscombe. Collected Philosophical Papers. Vol. II: Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Mind, 224–232. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1981.

Lewis, C. S. Miracles: A Preliminary Study. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1947; 2nd Edition: Fontana Books, 1960; San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2001. [Polskie przekłady: Cudy: wprowadzenie ogólne, przeł. Stanisław Pacuła (Warszawa: PAX, 1958; Cuda – rozważania wstępne, przeł. Krzysztof Puławski (Poznań: Media Rodzina, 2010)].

Lewis, C. S. „De Futilitate”. W: God in the Dock: Essays in Theology and Ethics. Red. Walter Hooper, 57–71. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdman’s, 1967.

Lewis, C. S. „Rejoinder to Dr Pittenger”. W: God in the Dock: Essays in Theology and Ethics. Red. Walter Hooper, 177–183. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdman’s, 1967.

Lewis, C. S. „Religion without Dogma?”. W: Christian Reflections, red. Walter Hooper. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdman’s, 1967.

Reppert, Victor. C. S. Lewis’s Dangerous Idea: A Philosophical Defence of Lewis’s Argument from Reason. Downers Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 2003.

The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis. Vol. II, red. Walter Hooper. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2004.

Published
2019-06-29
Section
Translations