Morals and the Evolution of Man

"Morals and the Evolution of Man" by Max Simon Nordau is a piece of philosophical writing from the beginning of the 1900s that looks at the idea of right and wrong from different angles, like biology, society, and psychology. Nordau believes that morality isn't something people are born with, but something that grows out of what society needs and how people interact. To show how morality works, the author compares a pike and a tench in an aquarium at the beginning of the book. The pike keeps trying to attack the tench even though there's something blocking it that you can't see, which represents the limits that morals put on people. Nordau questions whether humans are naturally good or evil, and instead suggests that morals change as societies and their needs change. The story makes us think about why people often hold back their desires to be accepted by others.