GroshLink

This morning I was one of many to receive an inquiry regarding:

First, was there any particular philosophical or scientific movement or figurehead that Lewis personified as the evil physicist Weston? Or did Lewis just want to battle the popular notion of the times that Science would eventually be able to solve all human problems?

And second, since an eldil is an angel/spirit, and mal means bad in Latin (which Lewis knew), why on earth would he choose the name Maleldil for God?

Here are a few ramblings, maybe its time to get out my Lewis notebook from Hoffecker's class. Now where did I put that in my office? I think its unpacked.

The trilogy was not intended to be sci-fi (one could probably use the term space fantasy), for a helpful piece by David Downing on-line, check-out Planets in Peril: A Critical Study of C.S. Lewis' Ransom Trilogy On p.45, David argues for the series being an attempt to promote the imaginative beauty of the medieval worldview (earlier he discusses the challenge between Lewis and Tolkien in writing fiction), on p.41 he addresses the Maleldil question as the best hypothesis being first among the gods or God of gods, also see similar question posted on a forum group . . . But original language has been corrupted and the name just flowed well for Lewis.

There is also material on the Wellsian/Orwellian influence on the Weston character which represents the evils of Evolutionism (p.36). I came across an interesting National Review piece by John Derbyshire, which argues that these fears of progress have been unfounded as our freedoms still remain.

FYI: I agree and disagree. The prophetic critiques have led us to better decisions and if we don't keep them before us, there is much to fear in our age of continuing technological advancement. E.g. I went to a fascinating presentation on the ethical character of cyborg technology at Carnegie Mellon U. What were the ethics? If it can be done, someone will do it. If you don't do it, someone else will. Let's be careful in our applications, but let's keep exploring what can be done. Yes, there will be bad uses of implanting technology into our bodies for various uses (originally researched for health purposes) and having the ability to control such technology remotely. But that is the way the world is. All that to say, it would be even better to develop a foundational moral decision making perspective (wisdom) as we relate to all aspects of reality, we're not just critics BUT we're proposing an alternative approach . . . e.g., Francis Collins who attributes to Lewis a lot of to his perspective, has tried to advance some material in this area in The Language of God's Appendix. Take us back to the medieval worldview, maybe I already live there but call it the Biblical narrative/story ;-) 

Bonus: See The Discarded Mage: Lewis the Scholar-Novelist on Merlin's Moral Taint for a contribution regarding the Orwellian nature of the That Hideous Strength, the 3rd piece in the triology, and its contribution to tradition of Arthurian legend.