Analysis Of C. S. Lewis The Abolition Of Man

According to Discover Magazine natural disasters, black holes, and the reversal of Earth’s magnetic field could destroy man-kind. However, in C.S. Lewis’s the abolition of man Lewis discusses what he thinks will cause the destruction of Man. Lewis says that the destruction of Man will be when Man has control over himself and future generations, and when Man does not follow the principles of the Tao; however, the Tao is based on natural instincts which is what Man follows once he is emancipated from the Tao, and the tools that Man has invented for future generations to use will improve future generations rather than cause the destruction of them.
In The Abolition of Man Lewis discusses “Man’s Conquest of Nature.” He asks, “In what sense is
“It was but old birds teaching young birds to fly.” (61) The old birds representing the parents and teachers, and the young birds representing the children. The conditioners, also known as the parents and teachers, have been emancipated from the Tao; therefore, their values have changed, and so will the values of future generations. So, what do they base their motives on? The conditioners must choose what kind of artificial Tao they want to produce for the human race. Lewis says, “They know quite well how to produce a dozen different conceptions of good in us. The question is which, if any, they should produce.” (62) Because the men are outside of the Tao they have no guidelines for how they choose to condition; therefore, they can base their conditioning off anything they enjoy whether it is good or bad. The conditioners now base their principals on their impulses which are a product of nature. Therefore, the conditioners are conquered by nature. Showing that not following principles of the Tao leads to destruction of man by