Bulverism

In C.S. Lewis' essay, "Bulverism," he talks about a form of argument that he names Bulverism. Bulverism could be defined as arguing without proving that the other person is wrong, but rather only telling them why they are wrong. "Assume your opponent is wrong, and then explain his error, and the world will be at your feet." That is Lewis' quote of the fictitious creator of bulverism, E. Bulver. The purpose of Bulverism is to ignore reason in arguments but as Lewis says: "You must reason even to Bulverize. You are trying to prove that all proofs are invalid. If you fail, you fail. If you succeed, then you fail even more - for the proof that all proofs are invalid must be invalid itself." Then Lewis goes on to explain the differences between causes and reasons and how Bulverism uses it. Causes are just random events that do not prove things while reasons are special causes that have a purpose. Bulverism tries to tell someone that they have only cause and that is why they are wrong. After this, the essay switches to notes that were taken down while he spoke at a club. In this section he talks about where the causes and reasons come from and use them in a way to prove the supernatural exists.


Bulverism is still very present in our culture today. It is seen in many arguments and is probably most prevalent in politics. In politics everyone chooses a side they are on and then they just assume that the other one is wrong without listening to what they have to say. This also happens to everyone in little arguments. People are too prideful to admit that they might be wrong so they just argue without really seeking out the truth. This is a problem but it can be dealt with. We need to be humble when we have a disagreement and we need to look at the situation logically to find the truth. This is much easier said then done though and can be nearly impossible when the other person is using bulverism. Overcoming bulverism is not easy and it takes practice to defeat it.