C.S.Lewis On The Dangerous Politics of Progress

Abstract

It seems odd to write an essay about the political philosophy of an author who was avowedly apolitical. It is true that C.S. Lewis eschewed party politics. In fact, when offered knighthood by Winston Churchill for his literary contributions and radio addresses during World War II, Lewis declined on the grounds that he did not want the public to think he was merely a mouthpiece of Britain's Conservative party. Nonetheless, the classically-trained Lewis also realized that human beings are, by nature, political animals and will create order in our societies almost unconsciously. Therefore, in his frequent writings about the nature of man and contemporary social issues, Lewis made great contributions to political philosophy, particularly where natural law crosses paths with modernism, in terms of science and progress.

This paper will analyze the contribution Lewis makes to the understanding of politics through two of his works: the well-known lecture series, The Abolition of Man, and his less-well-known novel That Hideous Strength, which is the third novel of his Space Trilogy. Both works grapple with the consequences of modern man's desire to control his destiny by reconstructing his world through science and education--a desire that has not changed in the intervening decades. Lewis argues that such control is illusory, but the consequences of striving for that control are very real and, potentially, very dire.

This paper will analyze the contribution Lewis makes to the understanding of politics through two of his works: the well-known lecture series, The Abolition of Man, and his less-well-known novel That Hideous Strength, which is the third novel of his Space Trilogy. Both works grapple with the consequences of modern man's desire to control his destiny by reconstructing his world through science and education--a desire that has not changed in the intervening decades. Lewis argues that such control is illusory, but the consequences of striving for that control are very real and, potentially, very dire.