Deep Dive into The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis - The Abolition of Man

The sources argue that "Man's conquest of Nature" is a misleading phrase. It's not humanity as a whole gaining power, but rather the power of some men over other men, using Nature as their instrument. This is seen in control over technology, resources, and even future generations through practices like eugenics and scientific education.The final stage of this conquest is when humanity gains full control over itself. This means human nature becomes the last part of Nature to be conquered. However, this power resides with a minority called the Conditioners.These Conditioners are different from traditional teachers because they are emancipated from the Tao, the objective moral law or system of values. They stand outside it, viewing values as mere phenomena they can produce in others. Having abandoned objective standards, their own motivations are reduced to subjective impulses, mere pleasure or the emotional weight of their desires, which ultimately stem from chance and basic biological or environmental factors.The consequences of this rule are severe. Without the Tao, the Conditioners have no rational basis for their actions, leading to wholly irrational behaviour. The rest of humanity becomes "conditioned human material" or "artefacts", shaped by the arbitrary will and impulses of the Conditioners.This state culminates in the abolition of Man. Both the Conditioners and the conditioned are described as "not men (in the old sense)" because they are no longer guided by reason and objective value. Instead, they are ruled by mere Nature—either directly in the case of the Conditioners' impulses or indirectly through the Conditioners' manipulation of the conditioned. What seemed like Man's victory over Nature turns out to be Nature's conquest of Man.Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologianPatreon: patreon.com/edi_reformed