The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis is the first book in a new list of 100 books that everyone should read that I recently posted. I finished reading it yesterday and so I though I'd post a summary of the book here....
Summary of The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
In The Abolition of Man, Lewis seeks to defend the idea that there is an objective moral order, a universal law of right and wrong that transcends individual preference or cultural fashion. If this moral law is abandoned, humanity does not become liberated but instead becomes enslaved to impulse, propaganda, and the unchecked power of those who would mold society to their own desires.
The first chapter, Men Without Chests, begins with a critique of a school textbook, which Lewis calls The Green Book. The authors, whom he names Gaius and Titius, teach their students that statements about beauty and morality are merely expressions of personal feeling rather than reflections of objective truth. When a poet describes a waterfall as "sublime," they claim he is merely projecting his own emotions rather than recognizing a real quality in the world. This subtle shift in thinking has profound consequences. If young people are taught that all value judgments are mere subjective expressions, they will grow into adults who lack properly trained emotions. True education is not about making people smarter; it is about cultivating their affections—teaching them to love what is good and hate what is evil. When this moral framework is stripped away, a generation of "men without chests" is created—people whose intellect and desires run unchecked because they lack the guiding force of rightly ordered virtue.
In the second chapter, The Way, Lewis argues that morality is not something humanity invents; it is something humanity discovers. Christians usually call it "Natural Law" or "General Revelation", but Lewis refers to this universal moral order as the Tao, borrowing from the Chinese term to capture the idea that right and wrong are rooted in an objective reality. Every great civilization, whether Christian, Jewish, Hindu, or ancient Greek, has recognized some form of this moral law. Those who claim to rise above traditional morality, to create new values of their own, are deceiving themselves. Any new moral system they propose will either smuggle in elements of the Tao or reject morality altogether. The point of this chapter can be summed up by saying that one cannot create a new set of virtues while discarding the foundation upon which all virtue is built.
The final chapter, The Abolition of Man, explores what happens when society fully embraces moral relativism. As human power over nature increases through science and technology, this power inevitably concentrates in the hands of a small ruling class, whom Lewis calls "the Conditioners." These individuals, having rejected any objective moral standard, will shape future generations not according to virtue, but according to whatever values they find convenient. Ironically, though they claim to be the masters of nature, they themselves are controlled by their own base instincts and desires. Instead of elevating humanity, this process will lead to the abolition of man, humanity's transformation into mere creatures molded by the arbitrary will of those in power, rather than rational beings who recognize and uphold moral truth. The Conditioners, therefore, unavoidably achieve the opposite of their stated goal.
Thus, Lewis concludes that objective morality must be defended, not merely as a matter of tradition, but as a necessity for the survival of humanity itself. Without the Tao, humanity does not become freer; it becomes the slave of those who shape it. Only by acknowledging the reality of good and evil can humanity preserve its dignity and resist the forces that seek to erase it.
Summary of The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
In The Abolition of Man, Lewis seeks to defend the idea that there is an objective moral order, a universal law of right and wrong that transcends individual preference or cultural fashion. If this moral law is abandoned, humanity does not become liberated but instead becomes enslaved to impulse, propaganda, and the unchecked power of those who would mold society to their own desires.
The first chapter, Men Without Chests, begins with a critique of a school textbook, which Lewis calls The Green Book. The authors, whom he names Gaius and Titius, teach their students that statements about beauty and morality are merely expressions of personal feeling rather than reflections of objective truth. When a poet describes a waterfall as "sublime," they claim he is merely projecting his own emotions rather than recognizing a real quality in the world. This subtle shift in thinking has profound consequences. If young people are taught that all value judgments are mere subjective expressions, they will grow into adults who lack properly trained emotions. True education is not about making people smarter; it is about cultivating their affections—teaching them to love what is good and hate what is evil. When this moral framework is stripped away, a generation of "men without chests" is created—people whose intellect and desires run unchecked because they lack the guiding force of rightly ordered virtue.
In the second chapter, The Way, Lewis argues that morality is not something humanity invents; it is something humanity discovers. Christians usually call it "Natural Law" or "General Revelation", but Lewis refers to this universal moral order as the Tao, borrowing from the Chinese term to capture the idea that right and wrong are rooted in an objective reality. Every great civilization, whether Christian, Jewish, Hindu, or ancient Greek, has recognized some form of this moral law. Those who claim to rise above traditional morality, to create new values of their own, are deceiving themselves. Any new moral system they propose will either smuggle in elements of the Tao or reject morality altogether. The point of this chapter can be summed up by saying that one cannot create a new set of virtues while discarding the foundation upon which all virtue is built.
The final chapter, The Abolition of Man, explores what happens when society fully embraces moral relativism. As human power over nature increases through science and technology, this power inevitably concentrates in the hands of a small ruling class, whom Lewis calls "the Conditioners." These individuals, having rejected any objective moral standard, will shape future generations not according to virtue, but according to whatever values they find convenient. Ironically, though they claim to be the masters of nature, they themselves are controlled by their own base instincts and desires. Instead of elevating humanity, this process will lead to the abolition of man, humanity's transformation into mere creatures molded by the arbitrary will of those in power, rather than rational beings who recognize and uphold moral truth. The Conditioners, therefore, unavoidably achieve the opposite of their stated goal.
Thus, Lewis concludes that objective morality must be defended, not merely as a matter of tradition, but as a necessity for the survival of humanity itself. Without the Tao, humanity does not become freer; it becomes the slave of those who shape it. Only by acknowledging the reality of good and evil can humanity preserve its dignity and resist the forces that seek to erase it.
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