Laith
Published in 1943 and structured as 3 lectures (Men Without Chests, The Way, The Abolition of Man) that focus on a concept of natural laws and a defense of objectivism, Lewis sought to warn of the dangers of modern attempts to do away with parts of traditional morality. Not at all a novel, this is a collection of essays about the trend of reduction and definition that he was noticing as we became entrenched in the scientific age. Lewis was concerned with how we were to live our lives as we came to consider ourselves in an increasingly quantifiable sense, nothing more than collections of cells and molecules, mere creatures of needs and nature. He frets about the future of a humanity that has lost its moral compass, devoid of the traditions that in his eyes are what make us human.
Lewis posits that there's something greater than the quantifiable about Man; that there's an order to everything- a purpose, a natural law, which exists outside of the finite. Our purpose as Men bound to this natural law is to seek happiness and live lives of virtue- not lives of value as defined by whichever society we live in. In seeking to master nature, to quantify all, we rob ourselves of the capacity to imagine and ponder its mysteries. As society further focuses on efficiency and value we in turn become a part of nature, another thing to be mastered- another system to be exploited. To Lewis the ultimate consequence of conquering nature leads us to be conquered by nature as we reduce ourselves in kind, living lives of mere nature rather than lives according to the Tao.
At the very core of all three lectures is a firm rejection of moral subjectivism; the concept that there is no external or objective truth and that our own mental activity is the only unquestionable fact of our experience. Lewis claims the opposite; leaning on the arguments of the ancients he proposes that the purpose of education is to ingrain in children what is good and should be loved and what is bad and should be hated. Further there is a shared set of objective values that exist across the moralities of the East, West, and all major religious groups, these values he later coins as the Tao, the Way. In Men Without Chests he claims that to stray from the Tao is to rob men of their "Chests", their emotional and moral instincts; without their chests men are detached from their moral compass- the thing that makes them human.
In The Abolition of Man, the final lecture in the series, Lewis keys in on the consequence of this reduction in moral instinct. It's really about as sci-fi as a lecture can get as he envisages an dystopian future where a minority with a perfect understanding of human psychology rule over the rest, a world where they define the morals and values of the many as they see fit. These rulers are in turn so advanced as to see through any system of morality which could seek to influence their actions, they are ruled by their base instincts, their whims- as they have surrendered their mechanisms for reflection. Divorced from the ability to reflect on their motivation these controllers cease to be human in the recognizable sense, the rest of us robot-like in our systemic obedience.
Lewis actually published a sci-fi novel that expands on the dystopian ideas put forth in these essays called That Hideous Strength (part of The Space Trilogy), and these ideas certainly influenced Orwell's conceptualization of Big Brother in 1984.
While I don't personally agree with all the points that Lewis made, particularly his disdain of subjectivism and his conceptualization of the Tao, I found this thought provoking and generally right in its premise and intent. If you're seeking a little philosophy to pair with your notions of sci-fi, seeking to challenge your own conceptions of morality, or if you're just generally unimpressed with the modern school curriculum I'd recommend this highly.
Published in 1943 and structured as 3 lectures (Men Without Chests, The Way, The Abolition of Man) that focus on a concept of natural laws and a defense of objectivism, Lewis sought to warn of the dangers of modern attempts to do away with parts of traditional morality. Not at all a novel, this is a collection of essays about the trend of reduction and definition that he was noticing as we became entrenched in the scientific age. Lewis was concerned with how we were to live our lives as we came to consider ourselves in an increasingly quantifiable sense, nothing more than collections of cells and molecules, mere creatures of needs and nature. He frets about the future of a humanity that has lost its moral compass, devoid of the traditions that in his eyes are what make us human.
Lewis posits that there's something greater than the quantifiable about Man; that there's an order to everything- a purpose, a natural law, which exists outside of the finite. Our purpose as Men bound to this natural law is to seek happiness and live lives of virtue- not lives of value as defined by whichever society we live in. In seeking to master nature, to quantify all, we rob ourselves of the capacity to imagine and ponder its mysteries. As society further focuses on efficiency and value we in turn become a part of nature, another thing to be mastered- another system to be exploited. To Lewis the ultimate consequence of conquering nature leads us to be conquered by nature as we reduce ourselves in kind, living lives of mere nature rather than lives according to the Tao.
At the very core of all three lectures is a firm rejection of moral subjectivism; the concept that there is no external or objective truth and that our own mental activity is the only unquestionable fact of our experience. Lewis claims the opposite; leaning on the arguments of the ancients he proposes that the purpose of education is to ingrain in children what is good and should be loved and what is bad and should be hated. Further there is a shared set of objective values that exist across the moralities of the East, West, and all major religious groups, these values he later coins as the Tao, the Way. In Men Without Chests he claims that to stray from the Tao is to rob men of their "Chests", their emotional and moral instincts; without their chests men are detached from their moral compass- the thing that makes them human.
In The Abolition of Man, the final lecture in the series, Lewis keys in on the consequence of this reduction in moral instinct. It's really about as sci-fi as a lecture can get as he envisages an dystopian future where a minority with a perfect understanding of human psychology rule over the rest, a world where they define the morals and values of the many as they see fit. These rulers are in turn so advanced as to see through any system of morality which could seek to influence their actions, they are ruled by their base instincts, their whims- as they have surrendered their mechanisms for reflection. Divorced from the ability to reflect on their motivation these controllers cease to be human in the recognizable sense, the rest of us robot-like in our systemic obedience.
Lewis actually published a sci-fi novel that expands on the dystopian ideas put forth in these essays called That Hideous Strength (part of The Space Trilogy), and these ideas certainly influenced Orwell's conceptualization of Big Brother in 1984.
While I don't personally agree with all the points that Lewis made, particularly his disdain of subjectivism and his conceptualization of the Tao, I found this thought provoking and generally right in its premise and intent. If you're seeking a little philosophy to pair with your notions of sci-fi, seeking to challenge your own conceptions of morality, or if you're just generally unimpressed with the modern school curriculum I'd recommend this highly.
