What is the title of C.S. Lewis’s 1943 book arguing for the importance of objective moral values?

The Abolition of Man is C.S. Lewis’s 1943 book arguing for the importance of objective moral values.

The book developed from three lectures Lewis delivered at the University of Durham in February 1943. Across three chapters, he criticizes an approach to education that treats moral judgments as merely subjective emotional responses. Lewis argues that traditions of moral reasoning across cultures point toward an objective moral order, which he calls the Tao.

Lewis’s argument is philosophical rather than a simple political program. He warns that attempts to conquer nature through technological power could ultimately reduce human freedom and dignity if people abandon standards that distinguish genuine human goods from personal preference.

The title does not mean that Lewis wanted humanity literally eliminated. It refers to his concern that people could be transformed into beings controlled by conditioning, technique, and appetite rather than guided by reason and moral tradition. The book is often paired with That Hideous Strength, whose fictional story develops related concerns about scientific power and social engineering.