Ch. 3 The Reality of the Law
These are my thoughts on Chapter 3. I like how Lewis is trying to be logical and build upon himself here, but I just don’t find his reasoning very persuasive.
Summary
Lewis states that the moral law does not explain HOW people act. The Moral Law (ML) is how people OUGHT to act. The ML is something else – it comes in above and beyond the what we would call the facts of how people act - a general descriptions of how people act. You have the facts (how men do behave) and you also have something else (how they ought to behave). Lewis thinks that the existence of the ML is significant, and cannot be explained away. As we’ll see, the existence of the ML is what Lewis builds his belief in God upon, as well as his belief in Christianity.
Some might say that the Moral law just describes that which is convenient or profitable to individuals or to society as a whole. Lewis thinks this contradicts the facts. The ML can’t describe that which is helpful to people or society. This is because the ML often asks us to do that which is very inconvenient or unhelpful.
Lewis also notes that some people say that the ML exists because it is good for the human race as a whole – that it came about because of evolution. Lewis thinks this leads into a circular argument. He says: “if we ask: ‘
Why ought I to be unselfish?’
and you reply ‘Because it is good for society,’
… ‘Why should I care what’s good for society except when it happens to pay me personally?’
…you will have to say, ‘Because you ought to be unselfish’
[This] simply brings you back to where we started…” and is circular.
His conclusion:
“It begins to look as…that there is more than one kind of reality; that…there is something above and beyond the ordinary facts of men’s behavior, and yet quite definitely real – a real law, which none of us made, but which we find pressing on us.”
He conclusion: the moral law is real and exists.
Things I liked
Again, I liked that Lewis is taking objections and attempting to respond to them.
Questions Concerns
Again, I don’t think Lewis is being very careful here. His argument against morality evolving with humanity as some sort of survival strategy is very weak. It is a straw man argument – he is building a weak example that his opponents don’t actually hold, and then trying to attack it. He is confusing what people are arguing. There is a difference between explaining behavior, and giving a reason for WHY you should act a certain way. When people say that evolutionary processes can explain behavior that we see, they are not saying that how we evolved IS what is moral. They are only describing what our morality as a human species looks like. But in his “circular” argument, the person making the argument switches them. They first start out by saying, this is what evolution can help us explain in terms of HOW people act. But they switch by saying evolution says we should be unselfish. This is a straw man because its not an argument his opponents would make and it is terrible, so its easy to attack. Again, I don’t think he has deal with his objections here and is moving on anyway.
Jon
Doug's Response to Jon's Comments on Ch. 3
ReplyDeleteJon,
I agree that explaining the why we act a certain way through evolutionary process is weak at best. This last week I came upon an idea that spoke to me and could provide some explanations. Our brain has two main areas. The NeoCortex and Limbic Brain. The Neocortex understands the what and analysis of items. If I strictly look at the argument from my Neocortex part of the brain I can agree that these arguments are weak. Whether the Neocortex or Limbic brain evolved is for the next life to figure out but it could have happened that way. But if I use my Limbic part of my brain then. That part of the brain that that is gut feel or feelings then then I feel there is something more to Why we are here and why we have part of our being that wants to do the things we ought to do. I believe that we each have a spirit that came from heaven. We lived with the divine and are blessed with seeds of divinity that help remind us who we are and where we came from. Perhaps it is the limbic part of the brain that communicates with the divine. It is the limbic part of the brain that feels the spirit during spiritual music or prayer. It is my experience that feelings and impressions are real. Oh they can't be proven no more than Korihor saying that these feelings are the effect of a frenzied mind. Just today when my wife Jill gave her talk on keeping the commandments the Holy Ghost was there an testified of what she was saying. I felt it and it was as real and true to me as 2+2=4. Different part of the brain. Perhaps different part of the soul. But spirit talking to spirit. Limbic to Limbic?
There is a part of each of us that wants to do the right thing. Whether this is the Limbic brain or our divine linage or simply the light of Christ. It is God given to each person. I see the light in each person's life as they struggle between what they want to do and what they ought to do. I believe that which drives people to believe and become better comes from our divine heritage. I can't prove this but even If I'm wrong if it leads to more happiness and growth in this life then what does it hurt. If I believe in this and it helps me want to become better it is time well spent. Below is the youtube explaining the Neocortex and Limbic brain. He talks about why Martin Luther King moved people to action with his I have a dream speech. It explains how Obama could win with the "change speech". Something the Republicans could learn instead of having a plan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4
I'm looking forward to the blog so we can have items in order. It is hard to keep track of. I love reading books slowly and discussing them. Little behind this week. Just one chapter. Look forward to chapter 4.
I agree that reason isn't the only thing that matters. Reason is a great servant, but it can be a terrible master. However, if we are using our intuition/promptings to justify actions, we have to realize that we could easily be mistaken. Without anything else, promptings/intuitions are terrible justifications for beliefs and actions.
ReplyDeleteI think that one thing we can agree on is that the line between prompting/intuition and selfish desire can be a thin one. The limbic part of the brain can certainly help us unite, but I also think it can also divide us. That's why both reason and intuition are important. Reason and the spirit must be used together. One without the other results in delusion and danger. The trick is to figure out how to use them together, which is admittedly hard.