The Abolition of Man

C. S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man offers a compact, forceful argument about the consequences of discarding objective moral standards. Across three brief essays, Lewis challenges trends in education and philosophy that reduce value judgments to mere feeling, contending that such emotivism produces “men without chests” whose sentiments no longer mediate intellect and appetite. He defends a shared moral tradition (which he dubs the 'Tao') as essential for cultivating virtue and sustaining integrity. The final essay extends the concern to the expanding capacity of science and technique to shape human dispositions: Lewis warns that if moral education erodes while technological power grows unchecked, specialists may come to define ends for others, effectively reshaping what it means to be human. Clear, rhetorical, and urgent in tone, the book will interest readers focused on character formation, integrity in education, and the ethical limits of technological and institutional authority.