Why does Lewis reject strict Dualism, the view that good and evil are equal independent powers?

### Why this is right Lewis argues that evil uses powers and goods that are not evil in themselves, including existence, intelligence, pleasure, and power. Evil therefore depends on good rather than standing as an equal, self-sufficient principle. ### The concept Dualism treats good and evil as independent powers. Lewis instead describes evil as parasitic: it takes something good and uses it wrongly or excessively. His example is cruelty, which is pursued for pleasure, power, or advantage, all of which depend on capacities that are not evil in themselves. ### The other options - **B. Because humans never experience cruelty**: Lewis plainly treats cruelty as real. - **C. Because the world contains no genuine conflict**: Christianity, in Lewis’s account, sees the world as a conflict between God and rebellion. - **D. Because moral standards are created by whichever power wins**: Lewis argues that good and evil require a standard beyond either supposed power. ### Terms - **Dualism**: The view that good and evil are equal, independent powers. - **Parasitic evil**: Evil understood as a corruption that depends on something good. ### Remember For Lewis, evil spoils good; it does not create an independent kind of good of its own.