"Of the twenty-one great civilizations that have existed on our planet, according to Toynbee's reckoning, ours, the modern West, is the first that does not have or teach its citizens any answer to the question why they exist. A euphemistic way of saying this is that our society is pluralistic and leaves us free to choose or create our own ultimate values. A more candid way of saying the same thing is that our society has nothing but its own ignorance to give us on this, the most important of all questions. As society grows, it knows more and more about less and less. It knows more about the little things and less about the big things. It knows more and more about every thing and less about Everything." -- Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life
C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man predicted it would come to this. He specifically foresaw that the society that separates itself from first principles would be left with nothing but secondary pursuits. Man continues his conquest of nature and in the process is conquered by his compulsions. If the tao, as Lewis calls it, is abandoned, you still have your appetites. You cannot ignore them. So our natural impulses end up being the only variable by which we make our decisions. Eliminating principles produces people dominated by preference. So it is that we are ever learning as we peek deeper inside the atom and yet we're completely oblivious to inner Adam.
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