Out of the Silent Planet: Lewis's First Warning

C.S. Lewis published Out of the Silent Planet in 1938—five years before The Abolition of Man—and it contains almost exactly the same warning.

Here I unpack this first book in Lewis's Ransom Trilogy.

I discuss the clash between Ransom's Christian worldview and Weston's scientistic materialism, why Lewis thought the drive to colonise and conquer was spiritually bankrupt, and how the book's central dialogue anticipates The Abolition of Man almost word for word.

Also: why Tolkien couldn't put the manuscript down, the concept of the Tao, what Lewis's three alien species tell us about prelapsarian life, and why the villain Weston sounds a lot like a certain modern tech billionaire.

If you enjoyed That Hideous Strength or The Abolition of Man, this is where Lewis's great argument begins.

Watch the video below.