The Abolition of Man, Eighty Years Later: An Engineer’s Perspective

Authors

Paul G. Lorenzini

Abstract

I n 2021 Michael Ward published After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man. His purpose was to call attention to the continuing relevance and significance of Lewis’s book, originally published in 1943, now almost a century old. Among his many works, it is one of the least known, yet it was perhaps Lewis’s most highly acclaimed book among secular critics. Ranked seventh by the National Review in its list of 100 best non-fiction books in the 20th century, it is second on a similar list by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.1 While Abolition can be a difficult read, Ward gave it new life, made even more accessible in a podcast with Joseph Clair, Dean of the College of Humanities and Executive Dean of the Cultural Enterprise at George Fox University. In an easy back and forth, the podcast revealed how prescient Lewis had been and how his penetrating insights and stark warnings are, if anything, even more relevant than ever.2 This essay picks up that theme, assessing Lewis’s analysis from eighty years ago and reexamining it in light of current cultural studies. It views these analyses with what might be called “An Engineer’s Perspective.”

Recommended Citation

Paul G. Lorenzini (2024) "The Abolition of Man, Eighty Years Later: An Engineer’s Perspective," Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 18 : Iss. 1 , Article 9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/1940-5537.1468
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cslewisjournal/vol18/iss1/9