C.S. Lewis: Imagination and Politics

Instructor Thomas R. Cloud Department of Political Science

C.S. Lewis is one of the most widely read authors of the 20th century. Millions have read his children’s novels The Chronicles of Narnia, and his popular theological books, yet much of Lewis’ thought remains unappreciated. Why did C.S. Lewis say a theocracy was the worst form of government? Why did he support democracy when so many of his time argued for government unaccountable to the people? And why did he think the imagination of Medieval romanticism was more potent than any tract against totalitarianism?  These are the themes we will examine as we work our way through some of Lewis’ less familiar works including – Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength, The Abolition of Man, and The Discarded Image.