C.S. Lewis We Have No Right To Happiness

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Ashley Holt Ms. Keel English 1101 25 July 2011 An Examination of C.S. Lewis’ “We Have No ‘Right to Happiness’” The Declaration of Independence states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”. I can’t begin to imagine the number of people who read this famous quote, and misunderstand what the true meaning of it is. The part that I believe is most misunderstood is that they have the unalienable right to do whatever makes them happy. This could mean murdering people, stealing from people, hurting people, etc. It would be a very scary world that people would create on the premise that they have the right to do whatever makes them happy, regardless of the consequences. In Lewis’ essay “We Have No Right to Happiness” he brings up this idea. He gives an example of two people, divorcing their spouses to be with each other, because they had the right to be happy. Lewis explains that this happiness is only “sexual happiness”. Lewis emphasizes in this article that we do have a right to pursue happiness as far as it follows Natural (moral) Law, and legal Law. To Lewis, this situation was not abiding by moral law. Lewis’ statement that “our sexual impulses are thus being put in a position of preposterous privilege. The sexual motive is taken to condone all sorts of behavior which, if it had any other end in view, we would be condemned as merciless, treacherous, and unjust.” rings so true to me. I totally agree with this statement. How can one justify leaving a spouse because they no longer sexually satisfy you? When we marry, we marry for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. So does certain illness give us an exemption from these vows? Does this permit the unaffected partner to sever the

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