C. S. Lewis points out in
The Abolition of Man that magic and science were born in the same neighborhood at the same time, and that their goals are the same: namely man’s control of nature, including human nature. Shakespeare in
The Tempest and Christopher Marlow in
Doctor Faustus give us living images of men who
could control nature using magic; you know plenty of historical examples, not to mention science fiction tales, of people who have since aimed to control nature using science. Are we to think of Francis Bacon, the trumpeter of modern science, and Rene Descartes, the worshipper of human reason, as liberators or as undertakers? Einsteins or Frankensteins? Join us for an instructive and illuminating Parlour Talk in which Dr. Rappaport will discuss Shakespeare’s image of what is essential in preventing the abolition of man by the magic of a modern science unleashed from virtue.
Reading Shakespeare’s
The Tempest beforehand will enhance your appreciation of the talk and of the Q and A discussion following it.
