29 pages • 58 minutes read
C. S. LewisA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Lewis tries to understand Gaius and Titius’s system of ethics. He concludes that they regard instinct as the source of values, but, to Lewis, instinct is an inadequate source of values. Firstly, there are different instincts in man that contradict each other, and secondly, instinct does not encourage us to plan for the future. Neither can we find the basis of moral values in factual propositions, because we cannot logically pass from these propositions to the necessity of doing certain actions. Instead, moral values come from the Tao, a Chinese philosophical term. The Tao is the basic ground of all moral values. In rejecting it, we reject all value. Even the rational or biological values advocated by Gaius and Titius are derived in some sense from the Tao even if they do not acknowledge the connection. Lewis maintains that a half-hearted rejection of some values in favor of others will not work, because the Tao is a unified and integrated system.
Having outlined the problematic aspects of modern philosophy in Chapter 1 and hinted at the opposing philosophy known as the Tao, Lewis now discusses in greater detail both the Tao and the philosophical forces opposing it.
By C. S. Lewis
A Grief Observed
A Grief Observed
C. S. Lewis
Mere Christianity
Mere Christianity
C. S. Lewis
Out of the Silent Planet
Out of the Silent Planet
C. S. Lewis
Perelandra
Perelandra
C. S. Lewis
Prince Caspian
Prince Caspian
C. S. Lewis
Surprised by Joy
Surprised by Joy
C. S. Lewis
That Hideous Strength
That Hideous Strength
C. S. Lewis
The Discarded Image
The Discarded Image
C. S. Lewis
The Four Loves
The Four Loves
C. S. Lewis
The Great Divorce
The Great Divorce
C. S. Lewis
The Horse And His Boy
The Horse And His Boy
C. S. Lewis
The Last Battle
The Last Battle
C. S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C. S. Lewis
The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew
C. S. Lewis
The Pilgrim's Regress
The Pilgrim's Regress
C. S. Lewis
The Problem of Pain
The Problem of Pain
C. S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters
The Screwtape Letters
C. S. Lewis
The Silver Chair
The Silver Chair
C. S. Lewis
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
C. S. Lewis
Till We Have Faces
Till We Have Faces
C. S. Lewis