The book, The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis aims at explaining the manner in which science and advancements affect the relationship between man and nature. He does so even though the book is meant to be used for teaching English student in the upper Although Lewis supports the developments that are products to scientific innovations, he disapproves some of the values that are products of scientific developments. He refers to issues of morality in relation to science and thus, this essay focuses on the positive and adverse effect of scientific advancement on man as Lewis notes that “Each advance leaves him weaker as well as stronger” (Lewis 37).
Although Lewis views that progress has positive effects on humanity, there are also demerits that result to man weakening as he makes efforts to control nature. Controlling the nature comes along products that will adversely affect the relationship between man and nature. The issues of immorality that are emerging are said to products of man’s advancement. The increased immorality has increased the vulnerability of man, hence weakening him in one way or another. It is critical to control the rate of advancement because if not controlled, there can result to adoption of the scientific products and changes in behavior that can result to adverse effect on humanity. For example, the development of cloning as a reproduction criterion has raised many ethical questions.
Industrialization and technological advancement has had negative consequences on the climate change because most firms have adopted non-sustainable economic growth strategies, as a result, the fare of the future generation has been put at stake. That’s shows the manner in which the present generation can affect and thus control the future generation through adoption of scientifically innovated products without considering the consequences. The role played by the conditioners is to make certain that there is a rational balance between the natural law and logical positivism (Lewis 40). The fast changes in the society are likely to result to abolish the old kind of man because the changes occurring in the society are taking place so fast for the old man to keep pace. It requires conditioners to control the changes; otherwise the old man can become extinct. The evident changes in the education sector that can result to extinction of the old man include the adoption of new teaching principles, curricular, and strategies.
Lewis argues that ethics are based on universal principles and inability to adhere to the natural laws as defined by Tao results to ambiguity because all the judgments are based on Tao, even though Tao may be employed selectively. Through employment of Tao selectively, some principles are used to debunk others. Thus, Lewis proposes that ethics are natural and ability to derive ethics from man can result to total destruction of humanity and ethics. The claim that “If the eugenics are efficient enough there will be no second revolt” is not a plausible vision (Lewis 43). This is because changes in the society are inevitable and humanity has embraced technology in all aspects of life. The claim that “Outside the Tao there is no ground for criticizing either the Tao or anything else” is justified by Lewis where he claims that the Tao is founded on the universal laws that are the background of all ethics, and all ethics are shared by all the members of the humanity with slight differences occurring in respect to cultural background (Lewis 31). Lewis argument in his book about abiding to the Tao standards convinces me on the importance making efforts in cultivating educational values. This is because the Tao is based on natural law and the ethics derived from the Toa in a conditioned society are critical for the survival of humanity.
Work Cited
Lewis, C S. The Abolition of Man: Or, Reflections on Education with Special Reference to the Teaching of English in the Upper Forms of Schools. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1962. Print.
