Abstract: The British novelist C. P. Snow is well known for the “two cultures” controversy， and from a close and objective scrutiny， it is found that his novel The New Men both reflects the contradiction as well as inaccessibility of the “two cultures”， and at the same time contradicts with the “scientism” in his lecture. Based on the critique of instrumental reason and the theory of communicative action by Jurgen Habermas， it can be seen that Martin， the scientist hero of The New Men， first devoted himself to the creation of the atom bomb and the pursuit of power， then hesitated between scientific and technological reason and morality， and finally renounced the creation of the atom bomb and the power of Barford， reconciling with his humanist brother Lewis. The colonization and resumption of the lifeworld are realized through “fair and sincere” communication of the brothers， from which the important function of humanistic spirit can be seen in the modern world， where the combination of science， technology and ideology might yield severe consequences.

Key words: critique of science and technology, communicative action, The New Men, “two cultures”, humanistic spirit