The Abolition of Man

The Tao, a term taken from Chinese philosophy, is used by Lewis to refer to the universal moral law. The Tao goes by a number of alternate names in the book: the moral law, the natural law, the conscience of man, basic premises for action, traditional morality, first principles of practical reason. All of these terms express the idea of a body of moral rules that exists, with minor variations, in every culture. This moral code may be expressed through philosophical reflection, legal codes, or religious revelation. These rules define justice, honesty, duty, and many other positive moral concepts, while proscribing immoral actions such as theft and murder. The term “practical reason” is roughly equivalent to the Tao and refers to the moral rules according to which we carry out specific actions in our everyday life (43). The Tao enables a correspondence between thought and the reality of things. The Tao is also pre-rational because people learn these moral rules before they reach the age of reason (17). It is thus the preparation for a conscious moral life.

Far from being static and inflexible, the Tao is capable of development. Lewis describes it as “alive, and growing like a tree, and branching out, as the situation varies, into ever new beauties and dignities of application” (75). However, only those who have been trained in and accept the Tao in the first place have the right or the ability to modify or develop it.

For Lewis, the Tao is built into the human soul. It is a coherent, all-encompassing system of values, and it cannot be ignored without grave consequences. The abandonment of the Tao, the standard of all values, leaves us with no basis to declare that certain actions are good and others are bad. Lewis predicts that pleasure or power will become the only standard as an elite of experts gains power to manipulate the population through the educational system.

The biological part of our human makeup, instinct is a “natural or innate impulse, inclination, or tendency” (Webster’s Dictionary) associated with satisfying wants and avoiding pain. Ultimately, all instinct is ordered to the preservation either of the species as a whole (e.g., the sexual instinct) or of the individual (e.g., avoidance of danger). 

An aesthetic quality commonly applied to phenomena in nature which impress us with their greatness and magnitude. Lewis cites the example of the waterfall from The Green Book, declaring that our emotions are responses to objective reality, or, the way things really are. Thus, a response characterized by awe and humility while in the presence of the waterfall expresses the true nature of the waterfall. The feeling is not merely a chemical reaction in our brains; the feeling corresponds to the truth of what we are seeing and sensing. According to Lewis, all emotional responses can be judged correct or incorrect according to whether they are in harmony with the way things really are. Thus, objects merit certain reactions (15). 

Latin, “order of love.” This term is St. Augustine’s definition of virtue, which Lewis cites in Chapter 1. Virtue is the right ordering of the affections, in which every object is accorded the kind and degree of love which is appropriate to it (16). It is a preparatory education of the heart that takes place before we reach the age of reason. Ideally, a person will be disposed to like the right things; the person who lacks this emotional training will lack morals and ethics.

Augustine’s doctrine is similar to Plato’s assertion that children in the ideal republic should be educated in moral and aesthetic judgment and taught to be delighted by good things and repulsed by bad things (17). The concept of ordo amoris reinforces Lewis’s conviction that emotion is connected with morality and that objects merit our praise or blame.

Latin, “bridge of asses.” This term denotes a critical test of ability or understanding, or a point at which many learners fail. The term refers to The Green Book’s claim that to say a waterfall is “sublime” is to say only that we have “sublime feelings” about it. Lewis explains that our actual emotion is humility before the majesty of the waterfall (4).

Latin, “according to the letter.” Lewis criticizes the author of The Green Book called “Orbilius,” who does not explain to his readers when it is appropriate to use phrases in a non-literal or metaphorical sense (10).

Latin, “things said along the way.” Lewis uses this phrase in reference to the fact that The Green Book sneaks in a philosophical agenda under the pretense of teaching English composition (12). 

Term from Hinduism, denoting righteousness, correctness, and order. The term is akin to the Chinese concept of the Tao (17). 

In full, Dulce et decorum pro patria mori. Latin, “It is sweet and seemly to die for one’s country.” Originating from the Roman poet Horace, this notion was a traditional principle of Roman civic virtue. Lewis uses it as an example of a moral value which is typically scorned in modern thought (21-22). 

En de phaei kai olesson

Greek, “Destroy us in the broad light of day.” Lewis uses this phrase from Homer’s Iliad to suggest that we should be willing to do what is right even if it kills us (27). 

Latin, “crucial experiment.” This term denotes a test capable of decisively determining whether a particular hypothesis or theory is superior to others. Lewis sees the principle of self-sacrifice (dulce et decorum) as a critical test that reveals the nature of various systems of ethics (30).

Latin, “I consider nothing human to be alien to me.” Lewis sees this Stoic motto as a variation on the Christian Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (39). 

Italian, “gentle heart.” A gentleman, a well-nurtured person who has been brought up with the moral values of the Tao (49). 

Latin, “Thus I will, thus I command.” For Lewis, this statement sums up the only standard that can uphold the modern system of ethics once society has discarded the Tao. In other words, might makes right; the human will is supreme (65).

Latin, “The defeated conquered its uncivilized vanquisher.” This line originates from Horace and describes an ironic reversal of the concept of man’s conquest of nature, meaning that nature has actually conquered man (68).

hulē

Greek, “material, substance, matter.” Lewis laments that modern scientific rationalism treats humanity as raw material to manipulate (74).