There are three very important ideas that C. S. Lewis
explicates in his book, The Abolition of Man.
The first essay focuses on moral subjectivism, the second on the Tao,
and the third on the consequences of living in a morally relativist
society. As a dramatic conclusion to these essays, Lewis asserts that
if we do not carefully educate ourselves and accept the authority of
the Tao we may become heartless men and women, incapable of governing
a society of justice and values.
In the first essay, Lewis communicates his philosophy that education
plays an important part in the development of ethical values. In
addition to this statement, Lewis asserts that children’s
readers, guised as harmless texts, can convey hidden messages that
have potential to harm a child’s developing worldview. Much of
the first essay is focused on a schoolbook Lewis called “The
Green Book”. Although Lewis chose a specific model for “The
Green Book”, it could easily be any one of a whole generation
of schoolbooks. Unfortunately, instead of teaching grammar and good
writing as these books profess to do, students learn moral
relativism. Lewis, who supports the idea of a Tao, natural law, in
the next chapter, believes that youth educated by moral relativism
are actually being denied the education needed to appreciate the
philosophical claim that certain objects and ideas should hold on
them as human beings. Lewis believes that a good education should
link their experiences to the proper emotion. By reinforcing
emotional reactions to beautiful objects, values could be ingrained
in their minds. By having a system of belief in their consciousness,
they were given a vaccination against savagery. Their hearts knew
right from wrong and because their hearts were strong and well
developed, they could overcome their instincts and rationalized
desires. However, a generation educated by “The Green Book”
would know only the dangerous freedom of subjectivism. Without the
necessary education to develop the heart of man and left with no form
of resistance, they would find their instincts controlling their
behavior. Lewis summed up this argument by saying “the
practical result of education in the spirit of The Green Book must be
the destruction of the society which accepts it.” Lewis
ascertained that educating men this way and expecting virtue was like
castrating horses and expecting offspring.
In the second essay of Abolition of Man, entitled “The
Way,” Lewis expounds upon the system of Tao he introduced in
the first chapter. This essay sets out to prove that there is such a
thing as objective moral law; he refers to this moral law as the Tao.
Lewis defines the Tao as the underlying basic reality in the world,
which no amount of denial can make disappear. In the second essay,
Lewis points out that those who believe there can be no basic moral
judgments about anything contradict themselves because they cannot
escape making moral judgments themselves. The only way for
subjectivists to escape this cycle of self-contradiction is to claim
that there is a moral standard somewhere in nature. As is obvious to
most readers, this futility is the consequence Lewis writes that we
are bound towards in the first essay, and will explain further in the
third and last essay. Lewis points out that cultures across time and
around the world have all acknowledged the reality of basic moral
values and recognize the Tao in some way. C. S. Lewis allows us to
see that the Tao is necessary to develop moral human beings. To make
decisions about right and wrong “within ourselves” is
futile, for as we have already learned, without the Tao in out hearts
our desires will inevitably rule us.
The final essay is entitled “The Abolition of Man,” a
title perfect for the conclusion of this book because it reveals the
ultimate end if we succumb to subjectivism. Lewis proposes that the
philosophy of moral relativism, guised as freedom, is actually an
archetype for enslavement for both those controlled, and those
controlling. If society is reduced to no values, power becomes the
only thing worth attaining. Those in power, unchecked by morals, have
the ability and freedom to manipulate the subjects in any way they
choose. Lewis is saying that man, in his attempt to make progress,
learns to control more and more of nature. However, in his attempt to
control nature he only gains control over fellow men. In giving up
the Tao and allowing himself to do this, man succumbs to cruel nature
which, as is obvious by this pattern, he has no control over at all.
Possibly the most clear parallel philosophical principal we have
found in our reading this semester is the argument for natural law
posed in Antigone. Lewis asserts that natural law should be so
ingrained in our minds that we should be able to choose good without
having to stop and think about why we value our choice as good.
Antigone is a perfect example of this; she boldly defied the law of
the state put forth by Creon because she believed, without question,
that her brother’s dead body deserved to be buried. It is worth
noting that in both of these works, and quite possibly in all of
human experience, that natural law (or Tao) comes from an deep
authority rather than a power of a state or of one person. In
both Abolition of Man and “Antigone,” the power of
subjective law is always less powerful than the authority of the Tao.
The abolition of man provides a clear warning to readers that we, as
educated people and consumers of future “Green Books,”
should heed carefully.
