I found an excellent CS Lewis quote today that fits our recent discussions very well:
“Reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.”
Discuss.
p.s. Did it find it’s way into your book, Travis?
A fine C.S. Lewis quote to discuss
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s a great quote…no, it did not make its way into my book, but it would have been a good one.
There are 109 references to C.S. Lewis in Travis’ book, but it doesn’t include that particular quotation. Bob T. @ Zossima Press
109 Lewis references? That few, huh.
This book is over 330 pages long – - – so there’s plenty of room for the the CSL references to breath. You get your money’s worth with Harry Potter & Imagination – - – this is no 170 page large-print fluff piece. This is quality thinking. Anybody want to make guesses on the number of Tolkien references? Maybe we should have a contest?
Actually, I was going to make a guess as to the number of George MacDonald references but I suppose I could try Tolkien. 345?
Nope. Anybody else? Or anyone want to guess the number of George MacDonald quotations? (hint: one is higher and one is lower than the number of Lewis citations)
Shockingly off-topic but:
Tolkien 166
MacDonald 84
MacDonald: 54
I had this thought after reading that quote from C S Lewis.
The God of Genesis back in the eons of time, IMAGINED…..He spoke (logos)
and ALL that is seen and unseen in the Earth………..in the Billions of Stars and Galaxies throughout the Universe………..were CREATED.
Therefore, ALL that is……..has MEANING!
I’d like to debate Lewis. Be warned that I have not studied philosophy or logic or semiotics. I’m just an interested amateur. And I need some terms defined.
Not sure what he means by “organ”: I’ll assume for the sake of argument that he means that one creates or brings about the other, as in toaster-toast, juicer-juice, reason-truth and imagination-meaning.
Before even touching the imagination-meaning link, I would caution about accepting the link between reason and truth. That’s a pretty big concept he’s talking about there: truth. Truth as in facts? Facts about nature? Facts about people? Facts about the human heart and motivation and what drives us to do good and what drives us to evil? Truth as in universal laws? Pretty hard to know, I’d say. And reason would be one of several paths to it. Observation and experience and insight and judgement and honesty would have to be included, I think. And the scientific method (evidence based understanding of the universe!!!) would have to be in there as well.
And what about that word “meaning”? What does he mean by that? The physical, practical, financial, social, emotional, mental, spiritual impact something has for us?
I’d also question the seeming dichotomy he draws between truth and meaning. Again, what kind of truth is he talking about? And is it even possible to have meaning without truth? What would that look like? And there is a part of me which suspects that we can only arrive at meaning through the truth. So I’d amend the statement to: truth is the organ of meaning.
I’d also want to know what he meant by “imagination”? Does he mean stories and fiction? Or is he talking about our ability to see things with our mind’s eye? Because if he means the latter, my response would be a vulgar “duh!” How else can we know “meaning”? On the other hand, if he is talking about stories and fiction, then we have a debate on our hands.
Anyways, without wanting to parody the 42nd president, in order to debate Lewis, I would have to know what he meant by the words: reason, truth, imagination and meaning as well as organ
‘For me, reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning. Imagination, producing new metaphors or revivifying old, is not the cause of truth, but its condition.’
The full quotation is helpful, no?
And about the link of imagination and logos, we need to note, again the Coleridge connection:
‘The primary imagination I hold to be the living power and prime agent of all human perception, and as a repetition in the finite mind of the eternal act of creation in the infinite I Am.’
The full quote raises more questions than it answers.
Imagination is the condition of truth? Does he mean “pre-condition”? A necessary but not sufficient condition?
I know what I mean by imagination – the ability to visualize or conceive of things which are not in reality, or not yet in reality – but I’m not sure how that fits what Lewis is saying.
By “metaphors” is he talking about symbols? Images? Analogies? Allegories? Supposals?
Let me have a stab at interpreting what he’s saying, even though I don’t understand what he means by the words he uses. Is it something like: we can best understand what import things have for us by thinking about them through symbols and images?
Thus, for example, we can understand God and the Devil better through the lens of Aslan and the White Witch?
Am I even remotely close?
OK – I guess all the votes are in.
korg20000bc says 166 Tolkien references in HP&I (there are 114)
Rev George guessed 54 G. MacDonald references (there are 13)
Anyone want to guess how many times the name John Granger appears?
John Granger references: 82
The real question might be, how many were there before John had them edited out?