C.S. Lewis on Human Nature
C.S. Lewis on Human Nature
In the Abolition of Man, Lewis argues for a world where “certain emotional reactions on our part could be either congruous or incongruous to it – believed, in fact, that objects did not merely receive, but could merit, our approval or disapproval, or reverence, or our contempt”(15). He believes that the nature of man comes from the universal law of nature, or what he refers to as the “Tao”, an education that enforces knowing what is right and wrong through educating what are true and just sentiments of moral objectivity. The only way to understand right from wrong is to be educated within the Tao and it is the only way for a society to flourish. He argues that past generations passed on this education but the today’s educators have abandoned it. This starves man of a correct education, which leads to domestication of nature, and ultimately human nature because of the consumption of power and conditioning of one man over another. This ultimately will lead to the abolition of man. To better understand Lewis’s argument it is necessary to further delineate the themes within the three chapters of his book, which will help illustrate Lewis’s teaching on human nature and reason for his opposition. The inception of this problem leading to the de-bunking of man begins with mal-education. This is covered in Lewis’s first lecture, “Men Without Chests”. As an example, Lewis explains that in The Green Book, a grammar schoolbook by Gaius and Titius; young students are taught, “all values are subjective and trivial” (5). In this book, Gaius and Titius refer to a story about a waterfall where one tourist describes it as “sublime”, and the other who says it is “pretty”. Gaius and Titius say the description of the waterfall as “pretty” should be rejected but “sublime” accepted. They state that the description “sublime” refers to the tourist’s feelings, not the waterfall itself. In cases such as this Gaius and Titius add that “we appear to be
In the Abolition of Man, Lewis argues for a world where “certain emotional reactions on our part could be either congruous or incongruous to it – believed, in fact, that objects did not merely receive, but could merit, our approval or disapproval, or reverence, or our contempt”(15). He believes that the nature of man comes from the universal law of nature, or what he refers to as the “Tao”, an education that enforces knowing what is right and wrong through educating what are true and just sentiments of moral objectivity. The only way to understand right from wrong is to be educated within the Tao and it is the only way for a society to flourish. He argues that past generations passed on this education but the today’s educators have abandoned it. This starves man of a correct education, which leads to domestication of nature, and ultimately human nature because of the consumption of power and conditioning of one man over another. This ultimately will lead to the abolition of man. To better understand Lewis’s argument it is necessary to further delineate the themes within the three chapters of his book, which will help illustrate Lewis’s teaching on human nature and reason for his opposition. The inception of this problem leading to the de-bunking of man begins with mal-education. This is covered in Lewis’s first lecture, “Men Without Chests”. As an example, Lewis explains that in The Green Book, a grammar schoolbook by Gaius and Titius; young students are taught, “all values are subjective and trivial” (5). In this book, Gaius and Titius refer to a story about a waterfall where one tourist describes it as “sublime”, and the other who says it is “pretty”. Gaius and Titius say the description of the waterfall as “pretty” should be rejected but “sublime” accepted. They state that the description “sublime” refers to the tourist’s feelings, not the waterfall itself. In cases such as this Gaius and Titius add that “we appear to be