C.S. Lewis as a Central Figure in Formulating the Theistic Argument from Desire

C.S. Lewis made various theistic arguments from the existence of a desire that he called “Joy”, “Romantic” longing or “Sehnsucht”. This paper evaluates Lewis’ contribution to this area of natural theology by situating it within an exploration of: a) the historical roots of such arguments, b) historic theological reflections upon desire, c) historic formulations of theistic arguments from desire, d) Lewis’ contemporaries who made theistic arguments from desire, and e) the contemporary philosophical discussion of theistic arguments from desire. With respect to the contemporary discussion, I focus upon my own defence of a cumulative argument from desire inspired by Lewis’ writings.