Mere Christianityintermediate
In Chapter 1 of Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis analyzes human quarreling to demonstrate the existence of the Law of Human Nature. Arrange the steps of his argument in logical order, from his initial observation to his final conclusion.
Answer
One person complains that another has acted unfairly., The accused person offers an excuse rather than rejecting the concept of fairness., Both parties implicitly appeal to a shared standard of right behavior., Lewis concludes that quarreling provides evidence of an acknowledged moral standard.
Explanation
### The order
1. One person accuses another of unfair conduct: the dispute begins with a claim that an action violates a rule.
2. The accused person usually offers an excuse: this response treats the rule as relevant rather than meaningless.
3. Both sides appeal to some shared idea of fair behaviour: the argument assumes a standard they can invoke.
4. The quarrel gives evidence of a recognized moral standard: this is Lewis’s inference from the pattern of argument.
### Remember
Lewis moves from moral accusation and excuse to the shared standard those acts presuppose.
Related Questions
- In Lewis’s piano analogy, what corresponds to the Moral Law?(intermediate)
- Explain how Lewis responds to the objection that moral rules are merely social conventions.(intermediate)
- Reconstruct Lewis’s inference from the Moral Law to a power behind the universe, and identify one limit he places on that inference.(intermediate)
- In Lewis’s account, what makes free will valuable despite making evil possible?(intermediate)
- Lewis argues that the Moral Law is simply a description of what human beings usually do.(intermediate)
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