Cervantes, Tricia Shalyn F.

Civil Engineering 5B
TTh 9:20-10:50AM
Men Without Chest

In the first chapter of the Abolition of Man, it talks about how C.S. Lewis criticize a certain
elementary book entitled “The Green Book” by authors Gaius and Titius (not their real names) and
the teachings in it. For the first part, the authors point out that people think that they are saying
something important about “something”, yet truth is, they are just expressing what they feel about
that “something” (p.14). However, according to Lewis, it is an absurd teaching since the emotions
that they think the people are expressing are just the mere correlatives of what qualities that
“something” is trying to show. This would cause the reader to believe that all sentences are
unimportant since it comes from the mere feelings and emotions of the speaker. Now, what worries
him is the fact that their reader is a boy who is not aware of what they are trying to do to him. With
their education teachings, Lewis stated how they cut out the boy’s soul in a way that he was not
able to experience something that can help him be more generous, fruitful and humane. The boy
was limited by the mere teaching of letters and nothing about the discovery of the world that can
help discover something about himself. Another author with the same pattern of teaching and
operation was also criticized in which he was writing about the horses or what he called the
“willing servants” (p.20). He taught his students how horses are not interested in any colonial
expansion since they’re just animals. No animal psychology was discussed since he did not
mention anything about writers that really loves and knows something about a specific topic,
something that can change the pupils’ perspectives about the horse deeper causing him to avoid
stereotyping.
In the modern era, only few remained to actually think critically before voicing out an
opinion and to tell things according to what they know is right rather than what they feel is right.
With that I think that the authors of both books are trying to change the beliefs and human values
of the old-age era in which in the past, deeper meanings were given to simple phenomenon. They
are trying to point out that good education can be build when they destroy the other teachings
(p.24). They wanted to live in an era where people are actually expressing almost everything that
they feel regardless of how wrong those might sound like. The values that they want is something
about having that shallow perspective of how things and phenomenon are. I also think that they
are trying to build a community that knows less about the political, religious, economic issues, etc.
because they wanted to avoid conflict where great minds are capable of. Maybe, it is a way for
them to actually avoid wars between nations so with that, they wanted to teach the boy, the young
people in general, new teachings that will actually help them to erase the old teachings. They are
sacrificing one’s ability to discover oneself and discover the world’s story for the benefit of the
whole community. However, according to Lewis, destroying the old teaching is impossible (p.25).
Certain emotional reactions of this world are believed to have the merit rather that just
merely receive. One needs to feel the pleasure, liking, disgust, and hatred at those things that are
pleasant, likeable, disgusting and hateful in order to claim that the “something” really have those
emotions (p.25). According to the Republic, a well-nurtured youth is someone that sees the bad in
the situations and hates it for being bad; sees the beauty in the situation and loves it for being
beautiful. Everything mentioned should be felt before his mind matures for him to be able to
understand the concept of reasoning. When one is able to appreciate the good and bad in a situation,
one can then be able to make reasons out from those things. One can then understand in a deeper
way why something is bad and why something is beautiful. Reasoning, for me, is one of the
essential things a man needs to learn and have while growing. Growth, not just physically, but also
mentally is obtained when one can be able to understand why something exists and why something
is seen in that way.
Tao in Chinese is defined as the greatest things. For them, it is considered to be the reality
beyond all predicates and the abyss before the Creator Himself. (p.28). Like any other community,
Tao serves as the doctrine of objective value and the basis for one to believe when a belief is good
or bad. This can still be in relation with one’s emotion since one can either be at the emotional
state that coincides with the reasoning or no harmony yet there is still reasoning. With that, no
emotion can be put to judgment however it can be classified as either unreasonable or reasonable
(p.29-30). One’s doctrine is considered to be holy and important since it serves as a guide to what
they should believe is right or wrong which means that it is greatly followed especially by those
who are strong believers. However, even with those written rules, I think that one cannot avoid
feeling an opposite emotion towards a certain belief. In this situation, reasoning comes in because
one should always listen to what the head says rather than to what the heart does because for them,
the heart never takes the place of the head. This simply means that personal emotion is neglected.
I think that there is no use when one says that as long as it is reasonable then it is right because for
me, feeling another emotion to what the doctrine is already considered unreasonable and no other
reason is acceptable to such.
With those, the education problem is entirely different whether you stand within or without
the Tao. To live within means that one conforms to the teachings of the objective doctrine in which
they are able to respond according to what they think and feel is appropriate; to live without is
simply the opposite in which one must regard all sentiments as irrational and that there is a mere
mist between us and the real objects. This then leads back to Gaius and Titius in which they only
have two sentiments: go to the whole way and debunk the sentiments like any other or set
themselves to work to produce pupils who believes that there is no value in the things that this
world have thus making the pupil live a lifeless life. When the latter happens, the old initiated will
then be erase leaving the new teachings as merely conditional.
Personally, I think that the authors have good points at some parts especially when I said
that I think that they wanted to eliminate conflict between minds that knows so much, but, above
that, I think that living a life with deeper meaning is the real purpose of actually living. Yes, having
a world crowded with great minds is scary but for me, it’s a lot better than having a world that
knows nothing deeper even about themselves. Also, one great mind is not just capable of wars and
conflicts, but above all, it is capable of making the world a lot better. Those people can actually be
a great help however, what lacks is the proper guidance from the old generation. I believe that the
new generation learned things from the old ones, this means that whatever their perspective is, it
is then based from what they see from the older people. Now with that, I am not totally blaming
the older people, what I’m trying to point out is that everyone should be helping one another since
at the end, everyone actually benefits from all these sacrifices.
With that statement above leads me to the part of explaining the real meaning of “men
without chest”. The “Green Book” ought to produce young men without chest. This refers to the
Intellectuals. However, it is not the excess of thought that actually marks them out but rather the
defect in their emotional states. They think that their heads are bigger than the ordinary when in
fact they are not. They think greatly of themselves causing them to live a life without moral;
making them a man without emotions that is just living according to what their head is always
saying neglecting what their heart is. They act as if no emotion is needed in order for them to
survive life. With that, we can never expect a man without chest that has virtue and enterprise.