The Abolition of Platonic Man

The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Abolition of Man is probably the most philosophical of Lewis' works and maybe the most relevant. He's absolutely prophetic of the our post-modern times.

In the classical view the head ruled over the passions through chest. The chest represents our heart or affections. The mind was to inform and direct the will toward the good and thus suppress the lower passions.

Today the direction of influence is reversed. Our hearts are no longer nourished by permanent truths. Relativism has ripped out the chest. The lower passions are released and corrupt the mind. Reason justifies sin and puts all hope in technological progress to save us from the consequences. There's no need to reform our behavior because we've got medical cures for everything from unwanted pregnancies to sadness.

Man has been abolished! While Lewis' classical understanding of man is biblically informed, I would say that reason is not necessarily the highest or ruling faculty in man. It is already as sinful and self-justifying as the passions. Sometimes we will what is right when our minds cannot grasp the truth and must bow to faith. "The heart has its reasons which reason knows not," said Pascal. Sometimes Lewis was too Platonic for his own good, but I fully agree with his thesis that the image of God is effaced more and more as we think we can define ourselves and create our own good.

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