What drives us in life? And how would CS Lewis answer this question?

What drives us in life? Is it reason, emotion, desire, passion, strength? Or is it dreams, guidance, and determination? It may be a delicate balance between logic and feeling, ambition and perseverance, external influences, and internal beliefs.

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Are we shaped by the intellect, making calculated decisions based on knowledge and analysis? Or do sanguine emotions and passions propel us, awakening our deepest desires and causing us to take risks? Is it pure willpower that fires our journey or is it the image of a dream that refuses to disappear?

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Perhaps what drives us is the merging of all these forces: reason guiding our choices, emotion giving value to them, passion fueling our energy, and determination confirming that we keep moving forward even when the road is uncertain. The path of life is often influenced by the seen and the unseen, by our counselors, insights, and the silent indications of our own perceived spiritual guidance.

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With his profound insights into human nature, morality, and purpose, C.S. Lewis would probably argue that what drives us in life is a combination of reason, desire, and a longing for something outside ourselves. His perspective would be shaped by his views on virtue and the search of ultimate joy (what he called “sehnsucht,” or deep longing).

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Lewis often emphasized that human beings are both rational and emotional creatures. In Mere Christianity, he suggests that reason is our guide, but it must be informed by something greater than mere intellect—namely, a moral and spiritual framework. He would likely argue that our actions are not driven by pure logic alone, but by desires that align (or misalign) with truth and goodness.??In the Pilgrim’s Regress. Lewis says “We were made to be neither cerebral men nor visceral men, but Men.?Not beasts nor angels but Men--things at once rational and animal."

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In Surprised by Joy, he describes how transient experiences of beauty, love, and longing awaken in us a desire for something eternal—something that this world cannot fully satisfy. This longing, he believed, was evidence of our ultimate destiny beyond the material world.?He might say that we are driven by a longing for the transcendent, often misdirected toward momentary pleasures, power, or success.

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In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis illustrates how humans are often misled by distorted versions of good – turning ambition into pride, love into obsession, and pleasure into addiction. He might warn that what we think drives us—success, passion, or even reason—can become harmful if not grounded in truth.

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Lewis believed that human life is not just about survival or personal fulfillment, but about participation in a larger, divine story. In The Weight of Glory, he writes:

"Our Lord seems to find our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, playing with drink, sex, and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what the offer of a vacation at sea means. We are easily satisfied."

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In other words, we are driven by lesser things when we are made for something much greater. In summary, if Lewis were responding to this question, he might say:

* We are driven by a deep longing for something beyond ourselves—what he called "Joy."

* We are rational creatures, but reason alone is not enough; we need meaning and purpose.

* Our desires can be misguided when detached from truth and virtue.

* True fulfillment comes from seeking the eternal rather than the temporary, aligning our passions with a higher calling.

* Ultimately, he would argue that our deepest drive is not simply emotion, strength, or ambition, but a longing for the divine—whether we recognize it or not.

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"The purposes of a person's heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out." (Proverbs 20:5)

Cheers,

Paulo