C.S. Lewis argues against moral subjectivism by examining how modern textbooks reduce human values to mere emotional projections. He defends the existence of objective truth through a concept he calls the Tao, a universal framework of traditional morality shared across diverse civilizations and eras. Lewis asserts that by teaching students to dismiss natural law as a psychological instinct, educators produce people without the internal moral compass necessary to govern their impulses. He concludes that the scientific conquest of nature, when divorced from objective ethics, results in the elite few manipulating human nature itself until humanity is functionally extinguished.
This work serves educators, philosophers, and parents concerned with the ethical foundations of pedagogy. Readers gain a logical framework for articulating why moral values are not subjective preferences but external realities. The text provides a toolkit for identifying how language and education influence the development of character and social order. Those who study this book walk away with a defense of objective morality that relies on cross-cultural historical evidence rather than strictly sectarian theology, offering a rational basis for resisting ethical relativism in public life.
Deep and contemplative; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1943
- Language
- EN
