“Men have differed as to whether you should have one wife or four. But they have always agreed that you must not simply have any woman you liked” (pg. 801).
C.S. Lewis says that in regards to a shared, or not totally different, morality that binds all human cultures. I’m not arguing that the Law of Human Nature doesn’t exist, but that instead this example he uses as evidence can be argued because there have been cultures, especially those extremely patriarchal, that have sold their daughters to the highest bidder. I admit that I’m unsure of the cultures that practice that today and to what extent, but I think that particular example was the weakest support of his claim.
In regards to the main point of the reading, his claims that we share an underlying connection of morality and that we continuously break it yet hold others to a higher standard, my overall response is that he is correct. I understand that there are diverse cultures, and each reflect their values through a dominant form (such as media or household) but our response to those values fits what C.S. Lewis calls The Law of Human Nature. Though values differ to an extent, there is the human continuity across cultures of holding others to a higher standard, even appealing to a shared sense of morality to the dominant values. Understanding the nature of ourselves is what Lewis calls “the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in” (pg. 802). So by understanding ourselves first, our human nature, we can better understand other issues we pursue.
