Which C.S. Lewis book argues that humanity should be governed by objective moral values?

The Abolition of Man is the C.S. Lewis book that argues for objective moral values and against reducing morality to subjective feelings. It was published in 1943 and developed from three lectures delivered at the University of Durham.

Lewis wrote the book partly in response to educational ideas that treated value judgments as nothing more than emotional reactions. He argued that education should cultivate proper emotional responses to reality rather than dismissing them as irrational.

A central concept is the Tao, Lewis’s term for a broad tradition of basic moral principles found across cultures. He maintained that attempts to eliminate objective value would not produce greater freedom; instead, they would weaken the qualities that make human judgment and virtue possible.

The book’s title refers to the eventual loss of distinctively human capacities, not to a literal disappearance of the human species. It is therefore different from The Abolition of Man’s frequent misreading as a science-fiction title or a direct sequel to one of Lewis’s novels.