Decadence, and Other Essays on the Culture of Ideas

In this book, the author views different concepts like beauty, pleasure, and aesthetics in purely biological and evolutionary terms and anticipates the modern-day examination of the world of art and aesthetics from the point of view of neuroscience, neuropsychology, and biology. Being armed with the findings of biology and animal behavior, de Gourmont goes on the attack against high-brow artistic elites who have conceited notions about art and who assess artistic works pretending to have a measure of popular success.