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Book seminarWhole-book seminarPhilosophyAdvanced

C.S. Lewis: The Abolition of Man

Three essays, six weeks

A short, difficult book about objective value, moral education, and what happens to a civilization that stops believing in either.

Imani Bell

Instructor

Ms. Imani Bell

Literature, Rhetoric & the Great Books

New this term. Reviews from students and parents appear here once families have taken it.

Overview

Ninety pages that take six weeks. Students read Lewis’s three lectures at a page-a-day pace, work through the appendix of cross-cultural moral testimony, and finish by applying his argument to something in their own education.

Ages & grades
Ages 15–18 · Grades 10–12
Live meetings
6 × 60 min
Cadence
Once a week · 6 weeks
Grading
Letter · transcript

This one runs in order

This course accumulates. The class reads the same pages at the same pace and each meeting picks up the argument where the last one left it, so joining halfway means joining an argument already in progress.

Because there is a whole body of work at the end of it, this one is graded (letter) and can be carried to a transcript. Enroll before the second meeting.

What students will be able to do

  • Reconstruct the argument of "Men Without Chests"
  • Explain what Lewis means by the Tao and why he appeals to it
  • Identify the strongest objection to moral objectivism and respond to it
  • Apply the argument to a contemporary example without sloganeering

Syllabus

  1. Weeks 1–2

    Men Without Chests

    The Green Book, debunking, and the trained emotions.

  2. Weeks 3–4

    The Way

    The Tao, moral knowledge, and the problem of stepping outside it.

  3. Weeks 5–6

    The Abolition of Man

    Conditioners, nature, and the final essay, plus the appendix.

Books & materials

  • The Abolition of Man

    C.S. Lewis

    Any edition. Roughly $10 new.

Prerequisites

  • Minimum age 15
  • Comfort with abstract argument

How this course handles its perspective

Lewis is presented sympathetically and his critics are read directly. Students who reject the argument are graded on the quality of their rejection.

Read our academic philosophy

Recording policy

Meetings are recorded and released to enrolled families for fourteen days. Recordings capture the instructor and shared materials; student video is not published.

Cancellation & refunds

Full refund up to seven days before the first meeting; inside seven days, everything paid is credited to your Lyceum balance. No refunds or credits once the class has begun. Cancel any section from your parent account.

Learner support

  • ADHD-aware instruction
  • Gifted & accelerated

These describe how this instructor has been trained, reviewed with educators and accessibility specialists. They are not a diagnosis and not a marketing claim.

Ratings & reviews

Students and parents review separately, on different questions, and the two aggregates are never blended. Every review is verified and moderated.

    No parent reviews for this class yet.

    Reviews from students are published as “Student, age 13”, never with a full name. Photo and short video reviews are supported and moderated before they appear.

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