Sigmund Freud's Last Session Play Analysis

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The Art in Argument
Just like a quarter there are two sides to any issue. A side that’s for it and a side that is against the issue. One person might say that the front of the quarter has George Washington on it, but another person might say they see an eagle. Both people in this case are right, but in order to make sense of what the other is arguing they must step in each others shoes and see from the other’s point of view. In Freud’s Last Session, a play written by Mark St. Germain, two well-known philosophers debate their personal beliefs. Both Freud and Lewis expose the insecurities of their argument in a crusade to convince one another of their own worldview. Ignorance murders hope. While in a debate with C.S Lewis, Sigmund Freud embraces an atheistic worldview and combates the existence of God. A fabricated claim leads to one of the first flaws in Freud’s argument: “My illness is irrelevant. I have no fear of death and no patience for propaganda” (10). Freud may think he believes this, but in reality this is the way he accepts that he is dying of oral cancer. The truth is obvious that Freud uses this argument as an excuse for his rejection of a spiritual worldview. He is afraid of the truth. This statement does the opposite of Freud’s original intent and instead affirms Freud’s uncertainty of death. Lewis believes that death is terrifying because one finds out the truth of if they were wrong. Freud makes the biggest mistake in his secular argument by saying, “I don’t accept it. There is no moral law, only our feeble attempts to control chaos” (13). Moral law serves a different person for each individual. Freud rejects the traditional definition of moral law that there is a system of ethics created by a divine figure and instead embarrasses moral law as a truth of reason. This is a dangerous argument because humans have a moral conscience that differs from right and wrong. Lewis and Freud’s clash of worldviews leads them to
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In Lewis’s conversation with Freud, he makes a few dangerous statements debating a Christian worldview against atheism. One error that C.S. Lewis makes in his argument is when he argues that, “The wish that God doesn’t exist can be just as powerful as the belief He does. I’d even say choosing to disbelieve may be stronger evidence for His existence, since you have to be aware of what you’re denying” (16). He tries to create evidence by using non-believers as an example that God exists. If this theory was applied to other religions then every god must exist. This statement does not align with the Christian worldview. Freud explains the danger of his argument by using the example of unicorns to refute Lewis’s claim. Freud rebuttals, “I deny the existence of Unicorns. Therefore, they exist?” (16). Lewis makes another dangerous claim that is mistakenly perceived as a weakness, but is essential to his argument. Freud asks Lewis why there is pain and suffering in the world if God exists and he responds, “I don’t know” (33). Lewis admits that there is something much bigger than himself. He humbles himself by admitting that he does not know everything. Others might perceive things differently and might use this against Lewis to discredit his argument for Christianity. Lewis, despite his risky claims, still withstands a solid

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