Finished!

It took me a good year, but finally finished this beast:


I had read first six books before May of this year, and I just finished reading the last book: The Abolition of Man. It was very good; it was less an indirect argument for theism than an excellent refutation on how the modern science is used in pursuits of wrong philosophical dispositions. He brought in other schools of philosophy to argue this position, including some eastern thoughts, such as that of Confucius'. Good stuff. Here are some memorable quotes:

"An open mind, in questions that are not ultimate, is useful. But an open mind about the ultimate foundations either of Theoretical or of Practical Reason is idiocy."

"The legitimate reformer endeavours to show that the precept in question conflicts with some precept which its defenders allow to be more fundamental, or that it does not really embody the judgement of value it professes to embody. The direct frontal attack 'Why?' -- 'What good does it do?' -- 'Who said so?' is never permissible; not because it is harsh or offensive but because no values at all can justify themselves on that level. If you persist in that kind of trial you will destroy all values, and so destroy the bases of your own criticism as well as the thing criticized. You must not hold a pistol to the head of the Tao. Nor must we postpone obedience to a precept until its credentials have been examined. Only those who are practicising the Tao will understand it. It is the well-nurtured man, the cuor gentil, and he alone, who can recognize Reason when it comes."

"...if we are to have values at all we must accept the ultimate platitudes of Practical Reason as having absolute validity: that any attempt, having become sceptical about these, to reintroduce value lower down on some supposedly more 'realistic' basis, is doomed."

Among these seven books, however, Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain remain my favorites. I'll have to read them again sometime to see if that holds true still. If anyone wants to borrow this collection, let me know. It includes these four books other than the ones I've just mentioned: The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, Miracles, and A Grief Observed.

Off to read fiction now!