Which 1943 C.S. Lewis book argues that education must cultivate objective value?

The Abolition of Man is the 1943 C.S. Lewis book that argues education must cultivate objective value.

The book developed from three lectures Lewis delivered at Durham University in February 1943. In them, he criticized an approach to education that treated moral judgments as nothing more than subjective feelings. Lewis argued instead for a shared moral order, which he called the Tao.

The work has three chapters: “Men Without Chests,” “The Way,” and “The Abolition of Man.” Its argument moves from education and moral formation to the dangers of attempting to dominate human nature through technological power.

The title does not refer simply to eliminating the human species. Lewis used “abolition” to describe the possible loss of human nature and moral agency if people try to remake humanity without acknowledging objective values. The book is philosophical rather than a conventional novel.