“That Would Be Undemocratic”: Individuality and Educational Differentiation in C. S. Lewis’s “Screwtape Proposes a Toast” (1961)

Abstract

This essay surveys C. S. Lewis’s statement and critique of British education as found in “Screwtape Proposes a Toast” (Lewis, 1961) and other works within his oeuvre. In this short story, Lewis elaborates on the state of education in postwar English society through the eyes of his protagonist: a demon. In distilling Lewis’s Christian philosophy of education, the essay explores individuality, differentiation, and various correlated themes in juxtaposition to extant literature on twentieth-century educational reform. Having the educational impact of Christian tenets as the common denominator, the essay concludes with individuality and differentiation standing at the core of Christian education.

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Eduardo Solá Chagas Lima

Eduardo Solá Chagas Lima is Assistant Professor of Music at Burman University (Canada), teaching music history, advanced music theory, music education, and orchestra. He holds a Ph.D. in education from Andrews University (USA), an M.A. in musicology and music theory from the University of Toronto (Canada), and B.Mus. degrees in baroque and modern violin performance from the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag (Holland) and Paraná State University (Brazil). Dr. Solá holds several scholarly publications and appears internationally as a speaker at conferences. Recently, he published the first Portuguese translation and commented edition of F. Geminiani’s The Art of Playing on the Violin (Paco Editorial, 2021) and the monograph Fugue Analysis: A Practical Guide (Peter Lang, 2023).