The Abolition of Man (Annotated) Paperback – 22 Aug. 2013

This book is based on Lewis' lectures at University of Durham in 1943. Over 70 years on, the text describes exactly the path that we have gone down, making this book read like prophecy. This is the power of Lewis' insight which still benefits us today by illuminating the folly we are in and the "final stage" we are heading - the abolition of man! Is there still time to arrest the trend? I think not not because it's too late but because few people are warned. Perhaps we all should read this book and make an informed choice - do we really want that future for our offspring if we are lucky enough to have escaped the knife ourselves?The pressure is on to eradicate all the fundamental core values that we hold. We see our traditional values being assaulted without stirring much alarm. We reason on some of the first principles that define us as human, and human nature is the final area of "Nature" that we seek to conquer or overpower. Then who are we? Lewis argues, 'Man's conquest of Nature turns out, in the moment of its consummation, to be Nature's conquest of Man.' (p. 41) 'We have been trying like Lear, to have it both ways: to lay down our human prerogative and yet at the same time to retain it. It is impossible.' (p.43)I must say, as pointed out by Lewis, schools today play a crucial role in "conditioning" our kids and the future generation under the regulation of the state. What Lewis has argued has happened at school today, and sadly for us, we do not have a critical voice as forceful, articulate and eloquent to expose the danger of this path for everyone to see. A sober read.

This is by far the best of Lewis's work. Although it is short, it is also chock-a-bloc full of insight and wisdom, and foresight, that its sadly rather eerie to see that when he wrote this in the 1940's, todays West is what he foresaw. It is a book that everyone should read, without exception. This along with his essays 'On Ethics', 'Willing Slaves of the Welfare State', 'The Poison of Subjectivism', 'Membership', and 'The Inner Ring', are must reads, they really are. They are not at all religious, but clearly one can see where his loyalties lean. His ability to philosophize is second to none, he is perhaps one of the most underrated philosophers in the last two centuries, but with this work in particular, as numerous others on here have already said, it is somewhat of a life-changing work. It really is that pointed, and far seeing.

As several other reviewers have noted, this book starts with an excessively distracting rant about some mid-20th Century school textbook. And it seems to go on for ages, feeling unjust in its criticism of an inadvertent philosophical faux pas that the authors of this long-forgotten textbook have made.But if you can only bare with it and keep going you realise that the vital point he is making is buried in the heart of the book, and actually the subliminal nature of reductionist and relativistic thinking is just the problem he is talking about. It was only about half way through the book that I realised what CS Lewis' message was and, more importantly, how pertinent it is to public life in 2013 Britain. Stunning.Because of the format it is fairly inaccessible for average readers like me, but in terms of the central idea this book is a potential life-changer. An easy 5 stars.

Actually this must be about the fifth copy I've purchased because I keep giving them away. Such a very important - and prophetic - book. Although C S Lewis is known as a Christian writer, this is more about education and the nurturing of the emotional/spiritual/"heart" of youngsters. He uses the term "men without chests" to describe the effect of education which focuses only on the mind and the body and forgets the appreciation of beauty. .

This is a thought-provoking read, in classic C.S. Lewis style. I would not go as far as he does with the consequences of naturalistic philosophy being subtly brought into education (I still think that children who learn morality at home will be less likely to fall into these traps at school). Yet, I do think that his warning is relevant for today - school-leavers are not taught to closely examine what they are fed at university, but rather blindly follow whatever 'the experts' say. As a result, few students ever think critically about dubious 'scientific' theories such as evolution. The naturalistic philosophy that comes with evolution leads on to the logical conclusion that humans are just another species of mammal, and morality and truth are not objective realities. The resulting acceptance of evil and falsehood as the norm are fulfillments of what C.S. Lewis was considering in his day.

I bought this as it is meant to be a seminal work. I am a scientist and therefore found this book really hard work, but it was worth all the effort to read and re-read until I made sense of the arguments.

Not an easy read. Unbelievable twist at the end. Without wanting to spoil it, the uncle did it.A classic.

Outstanding analyses of the background of the today's education philosophy explaining why it is principally misguided

This book was written in the shadow of World War II, at a time when right and wrong were fairly clear, even though there still could be some discussion, and when many of the moral issues of our time were barely on the epistemological radar. That CS Lewis is able to foresee where we are now in our time and the challenges that pose our different ideological, political, religious and philosophical perspectives from the depth of several decades is truly remarkable. I cannot say enough about how important it is to read and reread this book, as it lays out nicely the questions that are posed by current thought, as they might have been viewed at a distance, during a time when asking those questions was perhaps unthinkable to the common citizen. As usual, Lewis sees into the future of thought and of popular opinion, and draws lines. A truly important, clearly laid out essay that is helpful for understanding where we were, where we are and still, where we are going collectively in the West.

I wouldn't normally write a review on a book that already has so many, but this is an interesting one. I didn't enjoy this book very much at all. My main issues were pretty basic. From the start the author, to my mind, stumbles over the basic nature of subjectivity vs. objectivity. He proceeds to double down on this repeatedly and ludicrously throughout the book. Overall the work seems like something that started with a conclusion, then worked backwards from there. I would very much like to read some of the books he presents as examples of the ideology he so deplores. He gives little if any explanation why he feels so certain about the moral/philosophical positions of what are purportedly educational grammar texts. He simply quotes one or two lines from each and extrapolates freely from there. He then twists himself into rhetorical pretzels to 'debunk' them, thus doing exactly what he accuses them of. His logic is so perplexing that I'd think it was satire or something, but it's clearly not.I'd give this book but a single star, but it does have redeeming qualities. First, I can actually get behind a lot of the actual premise he's presenting (essentially that human values are fundamental and relativism is a dead end). And, as poor as I found his arguments, the book really is thought-provoking, which always has value. The concept is always worth thinking about, and I admire him for writing on the subject.I'm looking forward to the other of Lewis' non-Narnia books I have with equal parts interest and dread.

C.S. Lewis thought deeply, had expansive knowledge through much reading, and a perceptive mind which could root out discrepancies in arguements. He shakes up my thinking in a good way, causes me think more deeply and clearly about important subjects. I have to admit that I have to read and reread some of his sentences, and sometimes no amount of rereading makes me understand them better

It's very interesting how much people could see back in Lewis' time when the first changes were just beginning to shape from our perspective on modern relativism.

It is amazing how much of what he discusses is actually happening today. Known more for his Christian books, this for intellectuals

Although C.S. Lewis is a genius ...his use of the English language was inaccessible to me. I didn't understand his words at all.

CS Lewis is one of the best authors.

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Science, emotions and the commodification of man are some of things focussed in this terse but insightful book. Much needed in our our times where values seem to be hazy

Insightful. Revealing. Well worth the read.

Before reading this book I thought it was impossible to get near a proof of the existence of god via literature only. I was wrong! This book proves the very existence of transcendance in our world on pure literature grounds.

Excellent in all respects.

very dificult to understand

この“The　Abolition　of　Man”はルイスの他のChristian Apologeticの本とは違って、特別に神とかキリスト教について語っているわけではない。Godという言葉も1度も登場しない。もちろん彼の語っている言葉の根底にそれが流れていることは言うまでもない。この本は教育の問題に始まり、人間は必ず、どんな場合でもどんな背景をもっていても、絶対的にいつでもどこでも正しいあるもの、誰もがそれを基準に行動を考える絶対的な真理をもっていると力説する。その真理を彼はこの本の中では“Tao"と呼んでいる。このTaoという中国語の用語の使い方からも分かるように、彼はこの本の中でどんな宗教だろうと哲学だろうと関係なく、普遍的な人間としての芯はTaoなんだと語る。“Mere　Christianity”の1番最初のところでもっとわかりやすく語っているそのことを、別の語り方で彼はこの本の中で語っているのだ。それがなければ“The　Abolition　of　Man”、すでにもう人間性さえ廃たれてしまったということになるというわけだ。

:-)