The Abolition of Man: C.S. Lewis on Living Wisely

Following a review of Lewis's argument in the first two chapters, this week we delved into the eponymous third chapter, where Lewis expounds how what we call Man’s power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over others with Nature as its instrument. "Human nature will be the last part of Nature to surrender to Man. The battle will indeed be won--but who precisely will have won it? For the power of Man to make himself what he pleases means…the power of some men to make other men what they please.”

This week we look at how some of Lewis's predictions in "Men Without Chests" about the results of the loss of objective value were fulfilled in the 20th century by the work of Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, which has spawned a cultural revolution in academia. We also begin our journey into Chapter 2, "The Way," where Lewis explains the role of the Tao.

One of the beauties of this book is the way that Lewis marshals evidence for his argument from sources as diverse as Shelley's Aeolian harp to Plato's Republic. In this episode, we unpack some of that imagery and also take a look through a parallel lens at the way that Lewis expresses this same argument in the first section of Mere Christianity, "Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe."

"Men Without Chests" focuses on the concept and critical importance of objectivity of value. In this episode, we explore that concept through some thematic analysis and through looking at the Tao of sentiment, with a quick trip to Narnia to look at Eustace Scrubb and Experiment House.

"Men Without Chests" is the first chapter in The Abolition of Man; Lewis focuses on what he views as a dangerous assumption about feelings as opposed to objective value as reflected in educational materials. In this episode we look at Gaius and Titius and The Green Book and discuss Lewis's use of the image of the waterfall as a sort of proxy for the beauty of Natural Law.