Watch Out for the Log!

So I am LOVING The Screwtape Letters so far. I must confess, it's been a busy week, so I was lucky enough find a great audio recording of letters 1-15 to listen to at work. It's definitely a different experience than reading the text from a book, but I think this narrative bore the performance well. Anyway, for this week's post I'd like to focus in on Screwtape's concept of jargon and how that plays out in the letters as well as in our world..

“Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church. Don't waste time trying to make him think that materialism is true! Make him think it is strong, or stark, or courageous—that it is the philosophy of the future. That's the sort of thing he cares about.”

Screwtape's vision of jargon, effectively used, acts a means of sounding highly reasonable while actually saying nothing of consequence at all. In this, as in so many things, Lewis diagnoses a common ill of modern man. In this information inundated and yet highly uninformed era the key appears to be to sound intelligent rather than be intelligent. Concerns are focused on reputation rather than rightness. Within the mind of the “patient” this means an inundation with those ideas which must be readily received, “intellectual” and most importantly: unquestioned.

For Screwtape's school of temptation this unquestioning is practically the motto. Do not let "the patient" question his composite god, his assumptions of his mother, his irritations with his neighbor, and least of all his own intentions. Time and again, in nearly all of his directives, Screwtape pushes at this point. The sort of actual thinking involved in real questioning might result in some sort of real answer, and that is in direct opposition to the purpose of jargon. The individual must firmly believe that his or her basic assumption is irrefutable true and further that listening to any argument with any real intent to question or engage would be merely a waste of time and energy. Lewis exemplifies this type of arguement on the most basic, domestic level in Screwtape's discussion of the minor irritations and petty arguments between the patient's mother and himself.

Jargon, considered in the context of a conversation with another, rather than the endless circles within a single human mind, is one of the major frustrations of modern intellectual debates. Individuals reside behind only their own jargon, and speak based upon the assumption that nothing their opposition could say would ever be sufficient. Due to this factor, most arguments I find myself witness to (or part of) today are really just two individuals running circles around each other, with neither side attempting to really enter into a conversation, define their terms, or truly listen. In this situation of dialogue it becomes distinctly clear that Screwtape's "jargon" is in direct opposition to any sort of meaningful argument. And that is precisely his point.

Perhaps it calls to mind another of "The Enemy's" stories. Stated briefly, when you're going for the splinter in someone else's eye, watch out for the log! If nothing else, an intellectual adversary, truly engaged,is tremendously skilled at identifying splinters and logs of all sizes. Through active grappling, they offer a key opportunity to question oneself on all levels, which at very least may improve your arguments in the future, and at best might change your mind or even, Wormwood forbid, your life!

Arguments, Jargon, and Stories

Hello readers!  I guess I should introduce myself (although Mary has already done so in part).  I am Elizabeth, the friend that Mary inexplicably persuaded to take part in this Summer Seminar along with her.  I mostly agreed because I have an unrealized dream to be among the Inklings (a group of friends including C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien who met to discuss their readings and writings).  I am studying English with Mary, as well as Catholic Studies and will be as glad as Mary to finally graduate and read texts of my own choosing!  Well, with that, on to The Screwtape Letters!

“Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church.”

Right away in the first letter, C.S. Lewis brings up the use of argument as a form of persuasion away from the Church.  Working from the assumption that the Church is, in fact, True, and therefore reasonable, it makes sense that a devil would be wary of using reason to persuade a person away from the Church.  In the end, it is inevitable that “the Enemy” (i.e. God) will always win the battle.  Luckily for the demons, Screwtape proffers, humanity has been ignoring real reason for quite some time, favoring jargon in its place.  This is largely due to the media, which keep numerous “incompatible philosophies dancing about together” in the minds of the social sphere.  We tend to prefer things because they seem a certain way – “strong or stark or courageous” – they just feel right.  Once somebody begins arguing for a certain philosophy, rather than feeling it out in this way, they risk awakening rationality.  Since God is Truth, actually engaging reason moves a person into dangerous territory (as Screwtape sees it) and opens up the possibility of some understanding of God. 

Screwtape’s concerns seem reasonable and I think Lewis makes an excellent point.  Reason does, necessarily, awaken us in some way to God, for everything that is true must point to He who is Truth.  But if you take this passage another step – claim that, therefore, the Church should use argument and reason alone to win people over to a life of faith, serious problems arise.  Human rationality is limited and argument can only bring us so far.  That is why we need reason combined with faith in order to live out full and fruitful lives within the Church.  Reason is an active pursuit of knowledge while faith, as Josef Pieper would put it (though in his terms the word is intellectus), is a “listening in to the being of things” which is captured in wonder.  An alienation of reason from faith will cause its own problems, tending toward instrumentalism.  The Church, then should approach the faithful not on terms of arguments alone, nor on jargon (which is problematic in its own rite), but on stories. 

We see the power of story-telling active everywhere in the Catholic Church.  To begin, Jesus did not come down and begin laying out the philosophical arguments for why divorce would not be allowed under the new covenant.  No, he just told stories.  Story after story.  Zoom out from there and you begin to see that all of Catholicism is a story, really.  A love story between God and His people as he tries to woo us and win us back to him.  Humanity tends to fall for jargon where there is a lack of story because we are, in the end, more than purely rational beings, but silly things who laugh and dream and love.  We look for the philosophy that feels “strong and stark and courageous” because we look to and love stories where the heroes have the virtue of courage.

This is why it is vitally important to keep not only your copy of the Catechism sitting around, but also the Lives of the Saints.  Awaken your reason, yes, and seek God in Truth, but then awaken your heart and find God in Love.  Faith and Reason, you will find in the stories of the Church, are equally True and equally Beautiful.       

                    

Let the Summer Seminar Begin!

Hello vast abyss of the internet blogoshpere! My name is Mary and I'm a senior in college studying English along with a slew of other minor pursuits. Welcome to a pet project of mine: The Summer Seminar. 

Throughout this summer I plan on taking all of those habits of reading and writing I've learned over the course of my education (not to mention those texts that never received due attention during the school year) and putting them to use in the pursuit of my own interests and texts. College is not forever (thank goodness), but no matter where my career leads me, I don't want to lose my capacity for careful reading and analysis. Which brings me to this Summer Seminar, a prep course, if you will, for the rest of my life.

Here's how it's going to work. I've managed to rope a good friend of mine (Elizabeth) into doing this project with me, and perhaps I can garner some more friends along the way. Throughout the three months of summer we'll be focusing on three different authors, to give each due time. June: C.S. Lewis, July: James Joyce, and August: Flannery O'Connor. 

Elizabeth and I will each write at least one blog post per week due Saturday at 11:59 PM CST. 

Tune in this Saturday, May 31st to see it all begin. We'll be discussing the first 15 chapters of C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters!