The Abolition of Man
C.S. Lewis
A prophetic warning about a world without objective values
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Synopsis
Starting from a seemingly trivial English textbook, Lewis builds a devastating argument against moral relativism. He shows that every civilization has recognized a set of objective moral truths — what he calls the Tao — and that the modern project of debunking values while keeping their benefits is incoherent. The book ends with a haunting vision of a future where humanity, having conquered nature, has finally conquered itself — and lost everything.
Key Themes
About the Author
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a British writer and professor at Oxford and Cambridge. A former atheist, his conversion to Christianity became the lens through which he wrote over 30 books, including The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters. He remains one of the most widely read Christian authors of the 20th century.
Why It Matters
Written in 1943, The Abolition of Man reads like prophecy today. Lewis saw where moral relativism would lead decades before it became mainstream. His defense of objective values is not narrow or sectarian — he draws on Chinese, Hindu, Egyptian, and Greek sources alongside Christian ones. It is the shortest, sharpest defense of moral realism ever written.