In "The Inner Ring" Lewis argues first that the phenomenon he calls "the inner ring" exists and is a powerful force in human affairs. He describes this phenomenon as a special clique of people whose power and influence is unofficial but is more potent than that of those higher up the formal hierarchy. The example he gives, from Tolstoy's War and Peace, is that of a general in the Russian army deferring to Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who is a captain.

The second part of Lewis's argument is that most members of his audience will at some time be very anxious to join the inner ring of their profession or social circle, and that this is at once one of the strongest and the most subtle worldly temptations to which they will be subjected. His final point is that they should resist the temptation since:

The quest of the Inner Ring will break your hearts unless you break it.

This is one of the places where Lewis states his argument directly. He summarizes his first point, after a good deal of illustration, in the sentence:

My main purpose in this address is simply to convince you that this desire is one of the great permanent mainsprings of human action.

The second point is not so neatly summarized but is probably best expressed in the paragraph which begins:

And you will be drawn in, if you are drawn in, not by desire for gain or ease, but simply because at that moment, when the cup was so near your lips, you cannot bear to be thrust back again into the cold outer world.

Although Lewis is writing from a Christian ethical perspective, his argument is not a theological one, and applies equally well in a Christian or secular context.