CS Lewis The Abolition of Man

18 Pages·2017·13.35 MB·English

The Abolition of Man
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A Critical Edition by Michael Ward
THE ABOLITION OF MAN
C. S. Lewis’s Classic Essay on
Objective Morality
A Critical Edition by Michael Ward

Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast in 1898. He was a
Fellow and Tutor in English at Magdalen College, Oxford (1925-
1954) and concluded his career as Professor of Medieval and
Renaissance English at Cambridge (1955-1963).
In 1931 Lewis converted to Christianity, encouraged by his
close friend, J.R.R. Tolkien. He became a popular defender of the
faith with works such as The Screwtape Letters (1942) and Mere
Christianity (1952). His seven Chronicles of Narnia (1950-1956)
achieved huge acclaim and have been translated into over forty
different languages.
Lewis died at his home in Oxford in 1963. On the fiftieth
anniversary of his death, a national memorial in his honour was
unveiled in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey.
The Abolition of Man originated as a series of lectures given
during the Second World War. In this enduringly influential work,
Lewis defends the objectivity of value, pointing to the universal
moral law that all great philosophical and religious traditions have
recognized. We have a responsibility, he maintains, to hand on to
our children this generous, fruitful and civilizing ethical
inheritance, for it defines our very humanity.
* * * * * * *
Michael Ward is a Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, University of
Oxford, and Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist
University, Texas. He is the author of Planet Narnia: The Seven
Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Oxford University Press)
and co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis (Cambridge
University Press).

THE ABOLITION OF MAN
C.S. Lewis’s Classic Essay on Objective
Morality
A Critical Edition by Michael Ward
THE ABOLITION OF MAN:
C.S. Lewis’s Classic Essay on Objective Morality
A Critical Edition by Michael Ward

Using the Second Edition (1946) of The Abolition of Man
Copyright © 2008-2017 by TellerBooks. For licenses to print,
publish, or post, contact: [email protected].

ISBN (13) (Paperback): 978-1-68109-009-2
ISBN (10) (Paperback): 1-68109-009-0
ISBN (13) (Kindle): 978-1-68109-010-8
ISBN (10) (Kindle): 1-68109-010-4
ISBN (13) (ePub): 978-1-68109-011-5
ISBN (10) (ePub): 1-68109-011-2

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“Imagine” by Malcolm Guite, from The Singing Bowl
(Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2013), reproduced by kind
permission of the author.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, views, positions and conclusions
expressed in this volume reflect those of the individual author
and/or editor and not necessarily those of the publisher or any of
its imprints, editors or employees.
CONTENTS
ABOUT THE IMPRINT ................................................................................. IX
PREFATORY NOTE ..................................................................................... XI
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1
Occasion ............................................................................................. 5
Summary ............................................................................................ 9
A Religious Work? .......................................................................... 15
Background ...................................................................................... 18
Legacy ............................................................................................... 37
THE ABOLITION OF MAN ....................................................... 45
1. MEN WITHOUT CHESTS ............................................................. 47
Notes ................................................................................................. 65
2. THE WAY ......................................................................................... 67
Notes ................................................................................................. 82
3. THE ABOLITION OF MAN ........................................................... 85
Notes ............................................................................................... 103
APPENDIX: ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE TAO ................................. 105
COMMENTARY ................................................................................. 115
FOR FURTHER READING ............................................................... 213
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION ...................................................... 229
INDEX ................................................................................................... 233

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