|
 Building
a home philosophy library
The
twenty-sixth in a series of articles advising on how to build your
own home philosophy library.
No.
26 C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
Michael
LaBossiere
Dawkins
remarked that "the universe we observe has precisely the properties
we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose,
no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference".
This view was anticipated and examined by C S Lewis in The Abolition
of Man.
This
short volume, which is a defence of natural law theory, is divided
into three chapters. In the first, "Men Without Chests",
Lewis criticises subjectivists who hold that all value judgments
(such as "it is right to protect children from harm")
are merely statements about the speaker's emotional states. Lewis
argues that education should create virtuous people by instilling
proper sentiments ("chests"). He claims that subjectivists
have created "men without chests" - men who lack proper
sentiments. He concludes the chapter with remarks that are all too
relevant today: "We make men without chests and expect of them
virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find
traitors in our midst."
In
the second chapter, Lewis discusses his understanding of the Tao,
which he regards as objective morality in the form of natural law.
He also presents a problem for the subjectivists: despite their
subjectivity they cannot avoid making value judgments. But they
cannot, without contradiction, claim that their value judgments
are correct.
In
the third chapter, "The Abolition of Man", Lewis examines
the potential outcome of a union between the abandonment of value
and the "progress" of science. He notes that the power
science has allegedly given man over nature is, in fact, also a
power science has given some men over other men. He contends that
this progress will culmi nate in man's final "victory over
nature" - the power to remake humanity. But, without the restraint
of values, this remaking of humanity will be, instead, the abolition
of man.
The
Abolition of Man
by C S Lewis (Fount) £4.99 (Harper San Francisco) $8
A
new book will be featured early March 2003.
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