The Abolition of Man - CS Lewis

Published by Fount Paperbacks: Glasgow, 1978.
First published 1943.

The longer title of this work is: The Abolition of Man, or Reflections on education with special reference to the teaching of English in the upper forms of schools. Within the book, Lewis takes aim at a form of English education underway in England during the time of his writing, and in particular (almost as a 'figurehead' of that movement) a work called The Green Book. But this is only the starting point. From there he goes on to discuss the way man seeks to conquer nature and set himself up over it, and the inherent dangers of doing this without consideration. This includes in the area of 'morality' or 'ethics', where what is "new" is often given more weight than what is "old" or "out-of-date." Lewis points out the dangers of this sort of thinking, and even highlights that: "A great many of those who 'debunk' traditional or (as they would say) 'sentimental' values have in the background values of their own which they believe to be immune from the debunking process. They claim to cutting away the parasitic growth of emotion, religious sanction, and inherited taboos, in order that 'real' or 'basic' values may emerge." (Page 22).

Even in a (fairly short) work on literary criticism, Lewis can find a way to make a larger point.

Completed 20 April 2019.


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