Understanding the Tao in C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man

Integrated Study Guide: Excursus

This excursus is part of the multi-post Study Guide titled "Learning to Pray with C.S. Lewis."

"The Chinese also speak of a great thing (the greatest thing) called the Tao. It is the reality beyond all predicates..., It is Nature, it is the Way, the Road." — C.S. Lewis

Introduction: Navigating Lewis's Moral Compass

When C.S. Lewis invokes "the Tao" in The Abolition of Man, he deliberately reaches beyond Western philosophical tradition to name something he believes exists across all cultures and times—a transcendent moral reality that humans discover rather than invent. While Lewis borrows this term from Chinese philosophy, he transforms it into a powerful conceptual tool that illuminates the foundation of all rational value judgments. For Christians reading Lewis, this concept takes on additional resonance, revealing how our moral discernment itself constitutes a form of divine grace—not an achievement of autonomous reason but a participation in God's wisdom.

The Tao: What It Is Not

Not a Rigid Ethical Codebook

Lewis does not present the Tao as a static rulebook, so to speak. His deliberate choice of an Eastern philosophical term signals something more dynamic and participatory. In Chinese thought, the Tao represents the natural order of the universe—something we experience through intuitive alignment rather than mere intellectual comprehension.

This participatory quality parallels the Ancient Greek philosophical concept of logos - which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ - the eternal logos in John’s gospel. Even as a young, atheist philosopher, Lewis recognized that logic itself represents "participation in a cosmic logos." In The Abolition of Man, he explicitly states that the Tao is "the concrete reality in which to participate is to be truly human." Our relationship to moral truth is not merely observational but fundamentally participatory—we don't just perceive it; we live within it.

Interestingly, Medieval Christian thinkers often employed music as a metaphor for our participation in divine reality. This tradition, from Boethius to Aquinas, understood music not merely as entertainment but as reflecting cosmic order. Tolkien captures this perfectly in The Silmarillion, depicting creation as a divine symphony where God is both composer and conductor, with creatures invited to become music-makers themselves.

This musical analogy illuminates how we live within a moral order - we are not objective observers standing on the outside. Just as a musician doesn't invent harmonic relationships but discovers and expresses them through disciplined practice, moral wisdom comes through attentive participation in an order that transcends us. For Christians, this participation is ultimately enabled by the Holy Spirit, who, as St. Paul writes, "helps us in our weakness" (Romans 8:26).

Not Religious Relativism

Lewis's appeal to diverse religious and philosophical traditions might initially suggest a relativistic approach that equates all spiritual paths. However, his argument is precisely the opposite. The remarkable convergence of core moral insights across cultures evidences a universal recognition of transcendent objective values—values not created by human cultures but discovered by them.

For Lewis, as for orthodox Christianity, acknowledging goodness, truth, and beauty outside biblical revelation is entirely appropriate. We should expect this, given God's creative imprint on all creation (Romans 1:20). However, natural law without biblical revelation remains incomplete. Lewis himself notes the potential for development within the Tao: "From the Confucian 'Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you' we can make a real advance, and find completion in the [Christian principle] 'Do as you would be done by'."

In the Christian understanding, Jesus Christ represents the true Logos and fulfillment of the Tao—the totality of truth toward which all other spiritual insights point, even if imperfectly. This fulfillment comes not through human discovery but through divine revelation and redemptive grace. As Scripture reminds us, "no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Not Statistical Consensus

Lewis's appeal to universal moral patterns across ancient civilizations is not an argument from mere popularity. He is not suggesting that moral frameworks are valid simply because they are widely accepted. The Tao cannot be proven through empirical means or statistical prevalence—only those who stand within it can truly perceive its worth and coherence.

For Christians, this perception is less a matter of intellectual assent than of divine illumination. Christ himself taught, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8)—suggesting that moral and spiritual perception requires a particular quality of character that comes as divine gift.

The Tao: What It Is

The Grammar of Moral Reasoning

The Tao functions as the underlying grammar of all moral discourse—not just a collection of specific ethical directives, but the foundation that makes moral reasoning possible. Without accepting some version of the Tao, Lewis argues, we cannot make any meaningful case for any values whatsoever.

As Basil Mitchell observes, Lewis is "right... in stressing what [different traditions] do have in common—the conviction, namely, that morality is not something that we construct but something, as it were, built into the order of the universe." The Tao is both transcendent (beyond human invention) and immanent (accessible to human reason through grace).

The Foundation of Human Dignity

For Lewis, abandoning the Tao doesn't lead to liberation but to the very "abolition of man" his title warns against. Only by recognizing and conforming ourselves to this transcendent moral reality can we preserve our humanity and resist reducing ourselves to mere objects of manipulation.

In our contemporary context, dominated by utilitarian ethics and technological advancement, Lewis's concept provides crucial orientation. It reminds us that human dignity rests on something beyond mere social convention or evolutionary advantage—it rests on our participation in a moral order that transcends us, yet calls us to our true fulfillment.

The Tao as Grace

Lewis's appeal to the Tao offers Christian readers of the Abolition of Man a framework for understanding how divine grace operates even in the realm of moral perception. The fact that humans can recognize moral truth at all points to a Creator who has made us capable of such recognition.

In an age of accelerating technological advancement and ethical confusion, Lewis's use of the Tao provides us with theoretical clarity for navigating our complex moral landscape with both conviction and humility. Although Lewis wrote The Abolition of Man as a purely philosophical text, he would have agreed, as a Christian, that our navigation of an increasingly complex and confused moral landscape must be guided by the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth (John 16:13) and enables us to discern "what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).