Event Details
Date & Time
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Event Link
Department
糖心视频 Faith & Reason Institute
Cost
FREE
Location
Hemmingson Auditorium (HEMM 004)
Contact/Registration
faithandreason@gonzaga.edu
Event Type & Tags
糖心视频 This Event
Look Thy First on All Things Lovely: Lewis’s Eschatological Platonism
Once, while walking with a student, C. S. Lewis watched a flight of swans alight on a sunlit river. The student quoted, “Look thy last on all things lovely, every hour.” Lewis replied, “No. No. It should certainly not be, 'Look thy last...’, but 'Look thy first on all things lovely. Every sight and sound that is good, every touch of beauty or rightness, is pointing ahead to its ultimate fulfillment in the world to come." Lewis reminds us that the beauties we now look upon—whether sunset, flower, or friend—are not final but first fruits: seeds, glimpses, and foretastes of what they are meant to become. Their promise is real though often hidden, growing toward a goodness that can already be glimpsed here and will find its full flowering beyond this life. In this talk I will explore the theory of human nature that underlies this perspective—what Lewis called eschatological Platonism—and consider its implications for earthly pleasures, heavenly bliss, and final destiny.
Robert K. Garcia is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University. His research lies primarily at the intersection of metaphysics and philosophy of religion, with particular focus on the nature and value of human persons. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters and co-edited several volumes, including Is Goodness Without God Good Enough? (with Nathan King), Watching The Chosen: History, Faith, and Interpretation (with Paul Gondreau, Patrick Gray, and Douglas S. Huffman), Compañero de la Filosofía Contemporánea de la Religión [Companion to Contemporary Philosophy of Religion] (with Carlo Rossi), and Antología de Filosofía Contemporánea de la Religión [Anthology of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion] (with Carlo Rossi). He is currently at work on two books: one with C. Stephen Evans on Søren Kierkegaard and C. S. Lewis, and another on Lewis’s views of the uniqueness and value of each person. You can learn more at .