The Abolition of Man

Do you notice any tendencies in modern education to inculcate the kind of false assumptions Lewis draws attention to in The Green Book?

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.” Discuss.

What do you think Lewis would say about modern education if he were alive today?

“The heart never takes the place of the head: but it can, and should, obey it.” Do you think Lewis is right to say that to think rightly about an issue we must also feel rightly about it?

Would you agree that the mark of the New Man is “not excess of thought but defect of fertile and generous emotion”?

Do you believe in the Tao?

“The Tao admits development from within.” What sort of thing might constitute a true development of the Tao?

Do you think Lewis is distrustful of science? If so, does he have a right to be?

“Man’s conquest of Nature, if the dreams of some scientific planners are realized, means the rule of a few hundreds of men over billions upon billions of men.” Do you agree that the drive towards conquering Nature is always going to be self-limiting to mankind?

Do you find Lewis’ chilling vision of a conditioned society plausible?

It has now been over sixty years since Lewis delivered the Abolition of Man lectures. Have Lewis’ fears for the future of education and/or society been realized in any way? Are his warnings still applicable?