C.S. Lewis wrote much about selfishness, greed and self-interest. In “C.S. Lewis, Greed, and Self-Interest“, Art Lindsley, Ph.D. looks through the lens of Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia and his other writings to bring the reader an understanding of Lewis on selfishness and greed, then Lewis on self-interest, and ultimately addresses the charge that “Capitalism is Greed”.  Lindsley writes:

It is said that a half-truth taken as the whole truth becomes an untruth. Recent protest signs saying, “Capitalism is Greed” perfectly illustrate this saying. The half-truth is that capitalists can be greedy. But are all capitalists always and everywhere greedy? Certainly not. There are greedy socialists, Marxists, Democrats, Republicans, rich people, and poor people. Greed is an equal opportunity employer. We are all capable of being greedy. But is there something in capitalism that intrinsically makes greed more likely? Is greed encouraged? Adam Smith famously said that our dinner comes not from the butcher or baker’s benevolence but from their own self-interest (“self-love” or “interest”).¹ Is pursuing our self-interest necessarily selfish or greedy? Can you have self-interest without selfishness?

Read the full paper here.