#149 My Problem With C.S. Lewis - Philip Pullman

Sir Philip Pullman delivers a blistering critique of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series, not just as a literary work but as a moral and psychological framework that infantilizes children and suppresses the natural development of sexuality and self-awareness. He argues that Lewis’s insistence on preserving childlike innocence—epitomized by the children’s sudden, abrupt departure from the world into heaven—is a betrayal of the teenage experience, dismissing the very desires and awakenings that define growing up. Pullman contrasts this with his own 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, where Lyra’s journey is a celebration of consciousness, imagination, and the 'second fall'—a necessary evolution into moral and emotional maturity. He extends this critique into a broader philosophical stance: organized religion, particularly in its institutional forms, is not a path to truth but a mechanism of control, exemplified by the Magdalene laundries and Taliban oppression. Pullman distances himself from the 'New Atheists' like Dawkins and Hitchens, not for lack of skepticism, but for their dogmatism and their failure to appreciate the power of imagination. He sees imagination not as deception, but as a vital sense—what he calls the 'Rosefield'—a field of associations and meanings that surrounds all perception. This concept, rooted in panpsychism and inspired by thinkers like Philip Goff, positions consciousness as a fundamental property of matter, not a mystical addition.