Analysis Of C. S. Lewis The Abolition Of Man
According to Discover Magazine natural disasters, black holes, and the reversal of Earth’s magnetic field could destroy man-kind. However, in C.S. Lewis’s the abolition of man Lewis discusses what he thinks will cause the destruction of Man. Lewis says that the destruction of Man will be when Man has control over himself and future generations, and when Man does not follow the principles of the Tao; however, the Tao is based on natural instincts which is what Man follows once he is emancipated from the Tao, and the tools that Man has invented for future generations to use will improve future generations rather than cause the destruction of them.
In The Abolition of Man Lewis discusses “Man’s Conquest of Nature.” He asks, “In what sense is …show more content…
man the possessor of increasing power over nature?” (54) Lewis discusses the topics of airplanes, contraceptives, and the wireless and how each of those may provide Man with the opportunity to control nature. Regarding the contraceptives Lewis says, “there is a paradoxical, negative sense in which all possible future generations are the patients of subjects of a power wielded by those already alive.” (55) Lewis then says, “all long-term exercises of power, especially in breeding, must mean the power of earlier generations over later ones.” (56) Man may think he is controlling his own nature by selective breeding through contraception, when he is actually using other men and their means to ‘conquer’ nature. Man must use another man’s powers who may or may not allow some men to profit by. This leaving a great majority of mankind powerless against the minority. Lewis does not think selective breeding will make the next generation better. He says that the following generations will be subjects of the previous generations power and therefore weaker. The following generation will have machines put in their hands to do the work for them, and that they will not have an idea of how to use them unlike previous generations. He goes on to say that the later generations will come closer to extinction because their subjects will be so few. This meaning that the future generations will become bored or have less discoveries to make due to previous generations doing the work for them. Lewis says that the final stage in the conquest of man over nature is when man has obtained full control over himself. “We shall have ‘taken the thread of life out of the hand of Clotho’ and henceforth free to make our species whatever we wish it to be.” (59) If Man has the ability to create tools to control his future and help with the future, then Man has the ability to make the species whatever he wants; therefore, man will have conquered nature.
Lewis says, “In older systems both the kind of man the teachers wished to produce and their motives for producing him were prescribed by the Tao.” (60) The purpose of the Tao is for parents and teachers to pass on to children what is perceived as good and evil.
“It was but old birds teaching young birds to fly.” (61) The old birds representing the parents and teachers, and the young birds representing the children. The conditioners, also known as the parents and teachers, have been emancipated from the Tao; therefore, their values have changed, and so will the values of future generations. So, what do they base their motives on? The conditioners must choose what kind of artificial Tao they want to produce for the human race. Lewis says, “They know quite well how to produce a dozen different conceptions of good in us. The question is which, if any, they should produce.” (62) Because the men are outside of the Tao they have no guidelines for how they choose to condition; therefore, they can base their conditioning off anything they enjoy whether it is good or bad. The conditioners now base their principals on their impulses which are a product of nature. Therefore, the conditioners are conquered by nature. Showing that not following principles of the Tao leads to destruction of man by
nature.
Lewis’s opinion on contraceptives shaping future generations in a negative way is not necessarily guaranteed to happen. Lewis discusses how the use of contraceptives by Man is Man’s way of controlling nature. However, it is the men other men buy the contraceptives from who are really in control of nature. Lewis describes this as, “the power of some men over other men.” (56) He explains how each generation’s successors modifies the environment due to an increase in human power because they get to make its descendants into what they prefer. With the use of contraceptives and eugenics Man has the opportunity to control when they want to produce the future generation, and to a certain extent, control what traits they want the future generation to have with eugenics. These processes were discovered by previous generations for future generations. They allow the opportunity for a better future generation to a certain extent. Lewis argues that following generations will be the subjects of the previous generations power and therefore weaker. Yes, future generations will have less to work for due to past generations working towards discoveries to make things easier. However, future generations may continue to work hard as well on other things to make life easier. For example, many years ago the world did not have televisions or cell phones. So, Man worked hard so they could have those things to make communication easier. One generation of man came up with the idea, the next created their idea, and the generation after that improved the idea. That concept will continue as long as man-kind continues to exist and grow. There are always things to improve upon, or create. However, science cannot be 100% guaranteed all the time. With every process or method used, there is always a small percent of things that could go wrong. This is true for the use of eugenics and all other things created by man. Marginal errors are what keep man-kind from going extinct. Errors mean there is room for improvement. As long as man-kind is alive, there will continue to be things to invent, and errors to fix.
According to Lewis, the Tao tells Man what should be perceived as good and evil. The Tao is a set of principles or code of behavior that is in sync with natural order. If the Tao is based on natural law, that means Man is following his own natural instincts. Additionally, it seems that Man lays on a common ground and agrees on what is good and bad which is how the Tao has come to exist. Having said that, the destruction of man by nature could not really happen considering nature has controlled man from the start.
In The Abolition of Man Lewis discusses “Man’s Conquest of Nature.” He asks, “In what sense is …show more content…
man the possessor of increasing power over nature?” (54) Lewis discusses the topics of airplanes, contraceptives, and the wireless and how each of those may provide Man with the opportunity to control nature. Regarding the contraceptives Lewis says, “there is a paradoxical, negative sense in which all possible future generations are the patients of subjects of a power wielded by those already alive.” (55) Lewis then says, “all long-term exercises of power, especially in breeding, must mean the power of earlier generations over later ones.” (56) Man may think he is controlling his own nature by selective breeding through contraception, when he is actually using other men and their means to ‘conquer’ nature. Man must use another man’s powers who may or may not allow some men to profit by. This leaving a great majority of mankind powerless against the minority. Lewis does not think selective breeding will make the next generation better. He says that the following generations will be subjects of the previous generations power and therefore weaker. The following generation will have machines put in their hands to do the work for them, and that they will not have an idea of how to use them unlike previous generations. He goes on to say that the later generations will come closer to extinction because their subjects will be so few. This meaning that the future generations will become bored or have less discoveries to make due to previous generations doing the work for them. Lewis says that the final stage in the conquest of man over nature is when man has obtained full control over himself. “We shall have ‘taken the thread of life out of the hand of Clotho’ and henceforth free to make our species whatever we wish it to be.” (59) If Man has the ability to create tools to control his future and help with the future, then Man has the ability to make the species whatever he wants; therefore, man will have conquered nature.
Lewis says, “In older systems both the kind of man the teachers wished to produce and their motives for producing him were prescribed by the Tao.” (60) The purpose of the Tao is for parents and teachers to pass on to children what is perceived as good and evil.
“It was but old birds teaching young birds to fly.” (61) The old birds representing the parents and teachers, and the young birds representing the children. The conditioners, also known as the parents and teachers, have been emancipated from the Tao; therefore, their values have changed, and so will the values of future generations. So, what do they base their motives on? The conditioners must choose what kind of artificial Tao they want to produce for the human race. Lewis says, “They know quite well how to produce a dozen different conceptions of good in us. The question is which, if any, they should produce.” (62) Because the men are outside of the Tao they have no guidelines for how they choose to condition; therefore, they can base their conditioning off anything they enjoy whether it is good or bad. The conditioners now base their principals on their impulses which are a product of nature. Therefore, the conditioners are conquered by nature. Showing that not following principles of the Tao leads to destruction of man by
nature.
Lewis’s opinion on contraceptives shaping future generations in a negative way is not necessarily guaranteed to happen. Lewis discusses how the use of contraceptives by Man is Man’s way of controlling nature. However, it is the men other men buy the contraceptives from who are really in control of nature. Lewis describes this as, “the power of some men over other men.” (56) He explains how each generation’s successors modifies the environment due to an increase in human power because they get to make its descendants into what they prefer. With the use of contraceptives and eugenics Man has the opportunity to control when they want to produce the future generation, and to a certain extent, control what traits they want the future generation to have with eugenics. These processes were discovered by previous generations for future generations. They allow the opportunity for a better future generation to a certain extent. Lewis argues that following generations will be the subjects of the previous generations power and therefore weaker. Yes, future generations will have less to work for due to past generations working towards discoveries to make things easier. However, future generations may continue to work hard as well on other things to make life easier. For example, many years ago the world did not have televisions or cell phones. So, Man worked hard so they could have those things to make communication easier. One generation of man came up with the idea, the next created their idea, and the generation after that improved the idea. That concept will continue as long as man-kind continues to exist and grow. There are always things to improve upon, or create. However, science cannot be 100% guaranteed all the time. With every process or method used, there is always a small percent of things that could go wrong. This is true for the use of eugenics and all other things created by man. Marginal errors are what keep man-kind from going extinct. Errors mean there is room for improvement. As long as man-kind is alive, there will continue to be things to invent, and errors to fix.
According to Lewis, the Tao tells Man what should be perceived as good and evil. The Tao is a set of principles or code of behavior that is in sync with natural order. If the Tao is based on natural law, that means Man is following his own natural instincts. Additionally, it seems that Man lays on a common ground and agrees on what is good and bad which is how the Tao has come to exist. Having said that, the destruction of man by nature could not really happen considering nature has controlled man from the start.