Lewis Against Pacifism

When it comes to mathematicians, C.S. Lewis is probably the last thing that comes to mind. While many know Lewis as one the well-known Christian authors of the twentieth century, he also held mathematics in a very high regard. Though, he did fail the mathematics portion of the entrance exam for Oxford twice, his fondness of the logical processes that mathematics is built upon is even in his writings and his understanding of the Christian faith. Lewis didn’t respond quite as well the the calculation portion of math, but he had a huge interest in Ratiocination, which refers to the logic of mathematical processes. Ratiocination would appeal to writers because the spine of any literature requires a sequence of events that flow logically (Lunsford, pg 57). These events caused this event and so on. While calculations may be a little difficult to grasp, any writer can appreciate the rationality in math. Any good story needs to progress is a rational sequence, or else

In his essay “Why I Am Not a Pacifist,” Lewis argues against pacifism using logical reasoning. In fact, “the prototype for his argument is a geometric proof” (Lunsford, pg 58). Lewis was able to take the principles he learned in math and apply them to his passion, writing. The logical reasoning that had appealed to him in math became the foundations of the beliefs that appear in his writings. Lewis uses three elements in his reasoning method: receiving facts, recognizing truths, and the arrangement of facts used to determine the truth value of the propositions being considered. Mathematically, these are referred to as, “ 1) definitions and theorems, 2) axioms, and 3) mathematical proof” (Lunsford, pg 58). Lewis’s basis for understanding how the world worked was deeply rooted in his respect for mathematics. As most of his writings discuss his morals, they also are deeply entwined with a mathematical