"Bulverism"

I thought C.S. Lewis had a very unique way of addressing the problem of "Bulverism" in a society. Bulverism is basically assuming that your opponent is wrong and, rather than arguing the issue at hand, simply trying to explain why the opponant has such a confused perspective. This really avoids the issue altogether, but may give you an advantage over an opponant who seems to have a bias. Lewis could have just stated his thoughts like that, but rather, he coined his own term and presented it in an interesting and even a comical way. Someone brought up in class the bit where Lewis says, "You must reason even to Bulverize. You are trying to prove that all proof is invalid. If you fail, you fail. If you succeed, then you fail even more- for the proof that all proofs are invalid must be invalid itself." He uses his own logic to make the logic behind Bulverizing look silly. I think anyone who reads Lewis's article is easily able to see his point but without feeling like he is pointing a finger at them. It is easy to admit that it is a problem faced by almost all societies and individuals when it is presented so lightly, rather than if Lewis had started off with harsh words and accusations. This piece is a great example of his talent in the areas of both philosophy and writing.

I also was reminded of something someone said in class when Lewis talks about bulverism regaurding religion. This person talked about not being able to understand religion until you look at it from the inside.This definitly has to do with the looking at vs looking along perspectives. Until you look along Christ, you cannot truly understand the Christian perspective on a wide range of topics. Without that first hand experiance, it is easy for people to blow off arguements especially over moral issues as "Well, you're a Christian. Of course you're going to see it that way." Any point that the Christian makes is already void in the mind of the other before it has even been spoken. Of course, this is only one of many places where bulerism arises. You see it at school, at work, in society, government, basically everywhere. I'm glad it was an issue that Lewis chose to address.