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Lewis was a professor of Medieval and Renaissance studies and literature at both Oxford and Cambridge. He cannot be explained outside of his work at these universities. Both his work and these universities had a profound impact on him as a whole person.
One of Lewis’ most famous essays is The Abolition of Man in which he discusses the goal of education. Lewis argues from a classical perspective that education is about ordering your desires and goals. The goal was to become a certain kind of person and develop character. According to Lewis, character should come before head knowledge although one does not negate the other.
Lewis’s think-through power is seen in The Four Loves in which he expounds upon relationships and their various facets. He goes into the four main types of love and various Greek words for this word. There is romantic love, familial love, unconditional love, and friendship love. The world often ignores friendship-based love. Friendship love is not needed but is a gift given and received freely. He had a deep capacity to understand each of these four types of love and think through the implications of each. He expounds upon how different friends brought out different aspects of who he was. We can see this to be true as we think about our friend groups and how each friend brings out different aspects of us.
There is a skill that Lewis realized to be greatly beneficial to his development as a person within his friendships. That is the skill of giving and receiving criticism. Both require humility and a willingness to be wrong. When there is give-and-take in a relationship both individuals grow from it. This is a huge part of education and often makes for better conversation. He experienced this in his group called, “The Inklings.”
Lewis brought much to the table when it comes to education and focusing on the development of the whole person, not just head knowledge. This also requires emotional intelligence and an intuitive and deep knowledge of how humans function and process life.
Brittany Proffitt lives in Dallas and is a writer and content manager for So We Speak.
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