Screwtape's Final Letter

In this instructive letter, Screwtape, a senior demon, counsels his nephew Wormwood on an insidious tactic for leading humans astray - getting them to do good deeds but for the wrong reasons. Screwtape explains that while getting humans to accept wrong as right is difficult due to their innate sense of good and evil, an alternate path is to let them acknowledge virtue, but subtly corrupt their motivations.

He outlines how to nurture a false sense of self-righteousness when humans recognize something as wrong, channeling that pride to mask the real reasons behind good acts like helping the needy or loving one's spouse. Screwtape shares techniques to slowly divert humans from virtuous intentions through distraction and habit.

Ultimately, Screwtape instructs using this tactic judiciously as one tool among many for the cause of moral subversion through a nuanced approach that keeps humans carrying out good deeds, but for empty, selfish motivations.