To: average joe who wrote (95919 ) 10/27/2012 12:01:44 AM From: Robin Plunder Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 218810 " Keep pressing home on him the ordinariness of things. Above all, do not attempt to use science (I mean, the real sciences) as a defence against Christianity. They will positively encourage him to think about realities he can't touch and see. There have been sad cases among the modern physicists. If he must dabble in science, keep him on economics and sociology; don't let him get away from that invaluable "real life". But the best of all is to let him read no science but to give him a grand general idea that he knows it all and that everything he happens to have picked up in casual talk and reading is "the results of modem investigation". Do remember you are there to fuddle him. From the way some of you young fiends talk, anyone would suppose it was our job to teach!" yes, look at this language, this is basically the method behind academic mainstream philosophy...ie, dont try to understand the truth...we already have our truth, we just need to fight those enemies who are against our truth, and fool those who cant see our truth into thinking they have some other truth which is in fact a similarity to our truth, as near as we can give them. I have not read the Screwtape Letters, although I have read other works by CS Lewis....maybe he is being fascetious in this passage...although his other books are very much in defense of a Christian point of view. Ayn Rands approach is similar to that of Aristotle...ie, ask how do we know what we know? How do we establish the initial foundations of knowledge, what are concepts and how does the human mind create them and validate them? rp