Precis for Abolition of Man

C.S. Lewis’ piece, The Abolition of Man, opens with the line, “Man’s conquest of Nature is an expression often used to describe the progress of science.” This conquest (or perceived conquest), according to Lewis, has led to the destruction, or abolition, of man.

Lewis begins his piece by discussing three advances in human technology which he feels are exemplary of what we call Man’s power over nature: The aeroplane, the wireless, and the contraceptive. However, these powers that Man holds, according to Lewis, are powers that are wielded by a small number of men, and these men decide whether or not other men should or can profit from them. In other words, man’s power of nature is merely “a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument.”

Contraceptives, Lewis argues, allow current generations of men to control future generations, much in the same way that different technology allows some men to exert control over other men. However, the control in the former is much greater because it allows men to decide who will and will not exist! The power of current generations over future generations does not end there for Lewis. He argues that current generations pre-ordain how future generations will live because of the traditions and values they will pass on to them. Lewis gives these men the title of “Conditioners,” and states that they will condition other men according to their own values and judgments. He goes further and states that even though every generation will pass on useful and innovative technology to the next generation and they will undoubtedly improve on that technology, the prior generation exerts its power over the future generation because it pre-ordains the manner in which that technology will be utilized.

According to Lewis, men’s actions were derived from the “Tao,” which he describes as a natural force that leads men to inartificial values and judgments. Lewis argues that the men that have assumed control over all other men have taken to creating an artificial Tao, and instilling their own values in men. The types of values these men choose to teach other men is driven by their impulses according to Lewis. Which impulse these men choose to follow is left to chance, which according to Lewis, is synonymous with ‘nature.’ So, in essence, the men who have conquered Nature and dictate the manner in which other men live their lives are subject to their own irrational random impulses that are no different than Nature. Therefore, even though it may seem as though Men and the Conditioners have completely conquered Nature, this, according to Lewis, is not the case. Because the Conditioners of men are subject to their own natural irrational impulses, they are then subject to nature. So, according to Lewis, “Man’s conquest of Nature turns out to be Nature’s Conquest of Man.”