The problem now with Bulverism should now become quite apparent. Bulverism focuses on the innate human desire to be correct and does not focus on the search for truth. However when one closely examines Bulverism, as C.S. Lewis does in his essay you find:
"Until Bulverism is crushed, reason can play no effective part in human affairs.
Each side snatches it early as a weapon against the other; but between the two
reason itself is discredited. And why should reason not be discredited? It would
be easy, in answer, to point to the present state of the world, but the real answer is
even more immediate. The forces discrediting reason, themselves depend on
reasoning. 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 also be invalid itself."
Each side snatches it early as a weapon against the other; but between the two
reason itself is discredited. And why should reason not be discredited? It would
be easy, in answer, to point to the present state of the world, but the real answer is
even more immediate. The forces discrediting reason, themselves depend on
reasoning. 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 also be invalid itself."
Thus, Bulverism is circular logic that leads nowhere and should be discarded in favor of the pursuit of truth by first trying to determine if the speaker is indeed wrong and then upon finding and proving the existence of an error can we, as C.S. Lewis puts it, "go on and discover the psychological causes of the error."
This leaves us with only one solid reed of hope left, which is that the taint or the reason for discrediting the speaker that is given by the Bulverist does not invalidate the reasoning behind the speaker's words. The validity of human reason now being assumed as a fact leads one to the inevitable conclusion that either events simply happen to have occurred in a particular fashion, a.k.a. random, or there is a Supernatural pre-existant being that is the cause of everything. To me, the Supernatural being is the only viable option because if everything is a series of random events then there is no rhyme or reason to the universe therefore reason cannot be applied, but if there is a Supernatural being then the exact opposite is true and reason is applicable.
This leaves us with only one solid reed of hope left, which is that the taint or the reason for discrediting the speaker that is given by the Bulverist does not invalidate the reasoning behind the speaker's words. The validity of human reason now being assumed as a fact leads one to the inevitable conclusion that either events simply happen to have occurred in a particular fashion, a.k.a. random, or there is a Supernatural pre-existant being that is the cause of everything. To me, the Supernatural being is the only viable option because if everything is a series of random events then there is no rhyme or reason to the universe therefore reason cannot be applied, but if there is a Supernatural being then the exact opposite is true and reason is applicable.
"Bulverism focuses on the innate human desire to be correct and does not focus on the search for truth." That section focuses on what I see as the major problem with bulverism as well as fault in society today. People are so caught up in being right that it doesn't matter how they manage to finagle a win. Never mind the truths that get thrown by the roadside through a victory, they got a victory.
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