The Abolition of Man
C. S. Lewis · Three lectures and an appendix on objective value, education, and the natural law
About this book
The Abolition of Man is C. S. Lewis’s short, closely argued 1943 defense of objective value against modern moral subjectivism. Originally delivered as the Riddell Memorial Lectures at King’s College, in the University of Durham, its three lectures move from a critique of a wartime English textbook, to an argument that no rational or instinctive standpoint can replace inherited morality (which Lewis calls “the Tao”), to a warning that discarding objective value altogether would place unlimited power over human nature in the hands of a technological elite — the “abolition of man” of the title. Though Lewis believed it was largely overlooked on first publication, it has since been ranked among the most influential nonfiction books of the twentieth century and remains widely read in philosophy, theology, and education.
Author: C. S. Lewis
First edition: 1943 · Oxford University Press · London (from the Riddell Memorial Lectures, King’s College, Newcastle, University of Durham, 24–26 February 1943)
Genre: Christian philosophy / natural law / ethics & education
Bibliographic record: Internet Archive (reference only — access-restricted lending copy; not reproduced here)
- 3 lectures
- 1 appendix
- 1943 first published
- English · Philosophy · Natural law & education
How to use this study companion
This is a guide to Lewis’s book, not a copy of it. The Abolition of Man remains in copyright in the United States and in the United Kingdom, so its text is not reproduced here. For all three lectures and the appendix you will find the published chapter title, a public-domain King James Scripture passage chosen for that chapter’s theme, an original UECF.NET summary, main themes, key ideas, important concepts, related Bible references, practical application, and questions for personal reflection and small-group discussion.
Read the lectures in the book itself — from a library, a bookseller, or the Internet Archive’s access-restricted lending copy — then use the pages here to review, discuss, and apply them. Every page has Previous / Next links, the full table of contents, adjustable text size, dark mode, bookmarks, and search across the whole companion (press Ctrl K). Your reading position and bookmarks are saved in this browser only.
Why the full text isn’t here: the Internet Archive copy referenced above (abolitionofman00csle) is a 1996 Touchstone / Simon & Schuster paperback edition held in a controlled, access-restricted lending collection — it can be borrowed there under the Archive’s own access rules, but it is not a public-domain text and UECF.NET has no licence to republish it. The book will not enter the public domain in the United States until 2039, or in the United Kingdom until 2034. See About this web edition for the full copyright determination.
Related: UECF.NET also offers a study companion to Lewis’s The Problem of Pain and a full web edition of The Screwtape Letters.
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