The Abolition of Man: Education, Cultural Criticism, and Christian Thought
Few authors have had as great an influence on Christian thought over the past century as C. S. Lewis. A convert to Christianity from a firm and convinced atheism, Lewis was one of the few exemplary writers who stood alone during the first half of the twentieth-century against the cresting tide of modernism and the deathly undertow of post-modernity. He taught English Literature at Oxford University, and chaired the Medieval and Renaissance English department at Cambridge University. His firm grasp on modern thought and its logical conclusions, along with his understanding of education, gave him great insight into the intrinsic metaphysical and ethical aspects of curriculum used in education.
In Lewis’ concise and oft-overlooked work The Abolition of Man (1943), he attempts to explain the use of education to manipulate the ethical consciousness of following generations. Unlike the majority of his works, this book is not only a defense of Christianity, or one of its doctrines. Rather, it attempts to defend Natural Law from modernism and its unholy offspring: relativism.
Summary and Analysis
In many ways, Lewis sums up this entire work in the opening sentence of his first chapter, “Men without Chests.” Concerning college preparatory textbooks, he states, “I doubt whether we are sufficiently attentive to the importance of elementary text-books” [1]. Lewis then describes an English literature textbook in his possession that teaches much modern relativistic philosophy, but very little literature.
Lewis accurately points out that children are most susceptible to assuming a teacher’s or author’s philosophical assumptions when they are least cognizant of being taught:
The very power of [the authors] depends on the fact that they are dealing with a boy: a boy who thinks he is ‘doing’ his ‘English prep’ and has no notion that ethics, theology, and politics are all at stake. It is not a theory they put into his mind, but an assumption, which ten years hence, its origin forgotten and its presence unconscious, will condition him to take one side in a controversy which he has never recognized as a controversy at all [2].
Because children are so susceptible to influence, Lewis is deeply concerned about the type of curriculum used in educating them. In essence, he is sounding the alarm.
But why be alarmed? In the last two chapters of this three-chapter book, Lewis details the results of this modern philosophy and just how much of a departure it is from all of ancient thought. He quite clearly shows that it denies Natural Law, and to do so one must completely reject all attempts to qualitatively evaluate anything. When adherence to Natural Law is ignored, the only thing left to guide man is instinct. In the end, Lewis concludes that in attempting to abolish Natural Law, man has actually abolished himself.
Lewis excels at attacking each point of an argument clearly and concisely, while also building an impregnable fortress for his position ready for any attack. His approach in The Abolition of Man is no different. In each of the three chapters, he asks the reader to consider a primary point and then evaluates its truthfulness and outworking effects. He concludes each chapter by summing up the failure of modernism to deliver on its promises. He asks modernism to fulfill its decrees, and demonstrates its impotence.
In the first chapter Lewis builds a well-honed argument and finds the core issue hidden amongst all the bluster of modernity. Not wishing to ask his readers to take all of his concern on faith, Lewis buttresses his argument by taking examples directly from an English literature textbook titled The Green Book (a false title given by Lewis to protect the book’s authors). However, he is gracious enough to suggest that the authors may not be intentionally propagating their philosophy [3].
Lewis proposes that The Green Book’s authors may simply have fallen into teaching philosophy rather than literature due to a misunderstanding of literary criticism, or the educational needs of children. But, he states, it may be that these authors (and others like them) actually feel that certain sentiments need to be encouraged, while others are discouraged [4]. Regardless of their intent, the textbook’s effect was to teach children that morals and ideals were a matter of personal, subjective feelings. Lewis points out that this hidden conceptual training is calling for a philosophical and ethical revolt against Natural Law.
To communicate the danger this represents, Lewis explains that Natural Law teaches that man should train, or organize, his emotions to desire that which is virtuous and excellent. According to this traditional understanding of man’s relationship to reality, the mind rules the appetite through organized and well-trained emotions. Lewis then credits Alanus ab Insulis with naming these well trained and ordered emotions. He calls them the “chest” [5]. Thus if modern men desire to deny Natural Law and their need to conform to it, it will make them “Men without Chests” [6].
Critique and Conclusion
Though The Abolition of Man is an excellent book, it may be somewhat inaccessible to the average reader. Lewis assumes the reader has a working knowledge of Natural Law, modernism, relativism, and their interplay. He also references many texts from Eastern and Western literature with which the average modern reader will likely be unfamiliar. The effect can be overwhelming for readers who are not conversant in the vocabulary and forms of philosophical writings and who are unwilling to stretch themselves.
However, The Abolition of Man is an extremely important book for Christians, especially educators. In this 1943 book, Lewis detailed modernism’s use of education to affect the general populace, though his forebodings were not realized in America until the cultural revolution of the 1960’s. In his attempt to alleviate the effects of modernism brought to fruition through the inculcation of the young, he was unsuccessful. Lewis’ failure was not due to lack of trying or inept writing, however, but to the world’s deafness. As Christian parents and educators, let us not display that same deafness, but take seriously the education of our children and students.
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[1] C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man, or, Reflections on Education with Special Reference to the Teaching of English in the Upper Forms of Schools. (1947, Reprint, New York: Collier Books Macmillan Publishing Company, 1955), 13.
[2] Ibid., 16.
[3] Ibid., 23.
[4] Ibid., 23-24.
[5] Ibid., 34.
[6] Ibid.
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