29 pages • 58 minutes read
C. S. LewisThe Abolition of Man
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1943A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
AppendixChapter Summaries & Analyses
Appendix Summary: “Illustrations of the Tao”
To conclude the book, Lewis presents an appendix consisting of a table of moral rules from various world cultures, with a brief preface. These rules illustrate that different cultures and societies share a basic agreement about morality. Lewis stresses that the list is not exhaustive, nor is it meant to represent independent testimonies to the Tao. In fact, Lewis sees the list as indicative of his conviction that only one primordial human civilization has ever existed; other civilizations exist because they have branched off of this original human civilization.
The moral concepts covered in this collection of rules include:
- Beneficence, toward people in general and toward specific persons
- Duties to parents, elders, ancestors, spouse, children, posterity
- Justice
- Honesty and truthfulness
- Mercy
- Magnanimity
Appendix Analysis
Lewis’s purpose in the appendix is to present concrete examples of moral law and to support his thesis that this law is universal, although the specific rules are subtly nuanced from one culture to another. The examples are all from antiquity and include Egypt, India, China, Greece and Rome, Scandinavia, the Anglo-Saxons, Jewish Law, and the New Testament.
Magnanimity denotes courage in protecting others, fearlessness in facing death, and moral restraint. Lewis uses the term “beneficence” to mean good moral actions toward people.
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