In responce to The Abolition of Man, by C.S. Lewis

2018-08-11

How then shall we know? Consider the grandfather clock. Is it “merely” the arrangement of gears and cogs, nothing special? Is it not a great work of mechanical art? A man has carefully conceived the whole and the details of the parts and the details of those parts in harmony yo bring forth complexity from simple parts, to elevate cogs to clock. Animate the inanimate in perfect harmony. Another man, or perhaps the same, has worked meticulously to craft out of simple materials precise gears. He too has taken the low and made it high. He has imbued raw brass with shape and left the mark of his skill.

Thus when we see such a clock we see beauty and art. To study it, then, is not to reduce its mysteries, but rather to elevate its creators and take part in the creating and care.

With a creator behind “Nature” could this not be the attitude of science? Not conquering or reducing, but perhaps exploring? Plumbing the depths of the intricacies to unearth and conceive their beauties. And then to cultivate and expand them.

With such a view we may avoid the abolition of man and rather find his consummation?