Sensibility
"...a hard heart is no infallible protection against a soft head."
(C.S. Lewis, "Men Without Chests" http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/lewis/abolition1.htm)
The above quote is taken from a brilliant essay by C.S. Lewis (yes,... the same one who wrote the Narnia books!) on the need to cultivate in young people (and adults) sensibility, and sensitivity towards the highest values as the best means to edify the human being, and protect her and him from the base influences in materialist society.
It really is a brilliant piece, and well worth reading for its content, first of all, and secondly because of his masterful command of written English. He is a clear, and well-organized thinker and his ideas are threaded together in an amenable fashion. He analyses the content of a high-school grammar book (actually, in the British system it's not called high-school) and tackles the little side-comments that authors make on the different pieces they have included for analysis, and shows how they make off-hand statements about value judgments, and relativise them to the speaker's own experience, whereas that merely hardens the heart of the reader who may unknowingly agree, and provides no real upliftment or edification. The real edification and strengthening of the soul comes from cultivating values and emotional attachment to them. Truth as an intellectual product is not in itself complete unless it is accompanied by the love of truth.
But I am really not doing this theme justice, as Lews does. I invite you to read and enjoy the essay, follow the link above.
(C.S. Lewis, "Men Without Chests" http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/lewis/abolition1.htm)
The above quote is taken from a brilliant essay by C.S. Lewis (yes,... the same one who wrote the Narnia books!) on the need to cultivate in young people (and adults) sensibility, and sensitivity towards the highest values as the best means to edify the human being, and protect her and him from the base influences in materialist society.
It really is a brilliant piece, and well worth reading for its content, first of all, and secondly because of his masterful command of written English. He is a clear, and well-organized thinker and his ideas are threaded together in an amenable fashion. He analyses the content of a high-school grammar book (actually, in the British system it's not called high-school) and tackles the little side-comments that authors make on the different pieces they have included for analysis, and shows how they make off-hand statements about value judgments, and relativise them to the speaker's own experience, whereas that merely hardens the heart of the reader who may unknowingly agree, and provides no real upliftment or edification. The real edification and strengthening of the soul comes from cultivating values and emotional attachment to them. Truth as an intellectual product is not in itself complete unless it is accompanied by the love of truth.
But I am really not doing this theme justice, as Lews does. I invite you to read and enjoy the essay, follow the link above.
posted by Trace at
6:36 AM
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