Human

Flourishing as C.S. Lewis

Reflected in J. Hickel
Progress and
Development
Learning Outcomes:
1. Explain why science is more dangerous than magic;
2. Critique human flourishing vis-à-vis the progress of
science and technology;
3. Explain Hickel’s paradigm of “de-development”; and
4. Differentiate it from the traditional notions of growth
and consumption.
Clive Staples Lewis
1898-1963
 THE MAGICIAN’S TWIN is a must-see trilogy of
short programs by the Discovery Institute applying
some brilliant insights and arguments from C.S. Lewis
to expose the fallacies of scientism and
evolution and to promote the reasonableness of
Intelligent Design. Based on a book of essays,
THE MAGICIAN’S TWIN is a very good series, done on
a small budget that shows real science points to
the God of the Universe.

https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/the-magicians-twin.html
The Magician’s Twin Guide
Questions:
1. What is scientism and scientocracy?
2. How is science comparable to magic?
3. Why is science more dangerous than magic?
4. What is the presented essence of modernity and its
consequence?
5. What do we need for the sciences to be good?
Scientism
✓ The belief or ideology that science is the best or only test for truth of any kind.
✓ Science as power where science becomes the dictator of the culture.
religion
science magic credulity
power
Scientocracy
✓ The practice of basing public policies on science.
✓ A government of the people, but informed by scientists.
C.S. Lewis and the Case Against Scientism,
explores Lewis’s prophetic concerns about the
misuse of science to “abolish” man and to
undermine personal freedoms and human
dignity.

http://www.cslewisweb.com/category/the-magicians-twin-film/
The Magician’s Twin Guide
Questions:
1. What is scientism?
2. How is science comparable to magic?
3. Why is science more dangerous than magic?
4. What is the presented essence of modernity and its
consequence?
5. What do we need for the sciences to be good?
-written on September 2015
 Main strategy for eradicating
poverty
– Growth
– More growth – according to Orthodox
economists

Scientists are now telling us that we’re blowing past planetary

boundaries at breakneck speed.
Annual planet resource per
individual is 1.8 global hectares
– Ghana and Guatemala: 1.8 hectares per person

– US and Canada: 8 hectares per person

– Europe: 4.7 hectares per person

Economist Peter Edward argues that instead of pushing
poorer countries to “catch up” with rich ones, we
should be thinking of ways to get rich countries to
“catch down” to more appropriate levels of
development.
Life Expectancy versus
Happiness
Country Life Expectancy GDP per capita
United States 79 years USD 53,000
Cuba 79 years USD 6,000

VS

Costa Rica:
- highest happiness indicator and life expectancy
-GDP per capita is just 25% that of the US
 Rich countries Excess income Higher life
and consumption expectancies?

Higher literacy
rates?

Higher
happiness
indicators?

Image retrieved from: http://cdn2.insidermonkey.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/featured2.jpg

Is it possible to ‘de-develop’
rich countries?
 Theory of progress

✓ Buen vivir
✓ How much is enough?
- Robert and Edward Skidelsky

Requires reaching a higher level of understanding and

consciousness about what we’re doing here and why.