Why Objective Truth Still Matters | Michael Ward on C.S. Lewis

In this episode of The Larry Arnn Show, Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn interviews Michael Ward, C.S. Lewis scholar and theologian. The two discuss the nature of truth, the legacy of C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man, and Ward's new book After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man.
This interview was conducted on September 11th, 2025.
Discover more at podcast.hillsdale.edu.
Check out Dr. Ward's latest book at https://www.amazon.com/After-Humanity-Commentary-Lewis-Abolition/dp/1943243778

00:00 Introduction to Subjectivism and The Green Book
01:01 C.S. Lewis, Language, and Objective Value
01:27 Introducing Michael Ward
02:32 Michael Ward’s Background and Hillsdale Connection
04:13 Overview of After Humanity and The Abolition of Man
06:14 Objective vs. Subjective Value in Lewis’s Work
07:21 Cultural Universality and the Tao
08:21 Explaining the Coleridge Waterfall Example
11:27 Reading Strategy: Abolition, Then After Humanity
13:18 Loss of Values and the Rise of Power Dynamics
26:18 Plato, Sophistry, and Lewis’s Parallel Argument
36:27 The Power of Moral Choice and Human Rationality
43:43 Faith, Reason, and the Return to Christianity
47:28 The Idea of Mere Christianity and College Purpose
54:09 Collapse of Colleges and Modern Protest Culture
60:31 Conclusion and Final Thoughts on The Abolition of Man