Was C.S. Lewis a Rational Determinist?
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Issue Date
2022-10
Authors
Davis, Richard Brian, 1963-
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Article
Keywords
Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963
Rational determinism
Miracles
Naturalism
Inference
Causality
Rational determinism
Miracles
Naturalism
Inference
Causality
Citation
Davis, Richard Brian. “Was C.S. Lewis a Rational Determinist?” Journal of Inklings Studies 12, no. 2 (October 2022): 227-236.
Abstract
In his recently published book C. S. Lewis (Wiley-Blackwell, 2018), Stewart Goetz argues that C.S. Lewis endorsed a form of rational determinism, according to which we are causally determined to draw the conclusions we do. Our inferences are not within our control; they happen to us whether we like it or not. If Goetz is right, then incredibly we must say that reasoning is not something Lewis ever did. I shall attempt to show that (taken in context) the texts to which Goetz appeals fail to support his thesis. In fact, upon closer analysis, they indicate precisely the opposite: Lewis was no rational determinist.
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Edinburgh University Press
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Copyright, Edinburgh University Press. All rights reserved.
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/