C.S. Lewis Warned Us About This | The Abolition of Man Explained | Fr. Patrick Briscoe and Fr. Bonaventure Chapman

October 15, 2026

The Abolition of Man: C.S. Lewis on Morality and Human Nature

What happens when we abandon objective moral truth? In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis explores the relationship between education, morality, and human nature, warning that a society that rejects objective values risks losing its understanding of what it means to be human.

In this episode of Godsplaining, Fr. Patrick and Fr. Bonaventure examine Lewis’s influential work and its continuing relevance to modern education, philosophy, and the moral life.

Beginning with Lewis’s critique of a school textbook, the friars explore how education does more than communicate facts: it shapes the way we understand goodness, beauty, and truth. They discuss Lewis’s concept of “men without chests,” explaining why the proper formation of our emotions and desires is essential to living a fully human life.

The conversation then turns to the Tao, Lewis’s term for the universal moral principles that guide human action. Drawing connections to natural law, the friars consider why moral judgments cannot be reduced to subjective feelings and why scientific knowledge alone cannot determine how we ought to live.

Finally, they examine Lewis’s warning about humanity’s conquest of nature. When human nature is treated as something to be manipulated rather than understood, the pursuit of power can become a means of controlling other human beings. The friars conclude by exploring how education, virtue, and the cultivation of rightly ordered desires help us recognize the good and grow in authentic human freedom.

Whether you are reading The Abolition of Man for the first time or revisiting C.S. Lewis’s philosophy, this episode offers an accessible introduction to his arguments about objective morality, natural law, education, and the meaning of human nature.