What Is Man? and Other Essays
By Mark Twain
2016
First Published
180
Number of Pages
"What Is Man?," published by Mark Twain in 1906, is a dialogue between a young man and an older man jaded to the world. It involves ideas of destiny and free will, as well as of psychological egoism. The Old Man asserted that the human being is merely a machine, and nothing more. The Young Man objects, and asks him to go into particulars and furnish his reasons for his position. This collection of short stories covers a wide range of Twain's interests: the serious, the political and the ironically humorous. Contents What is man? — The death of Jean—The turning-point of my life—How to make history dates stick—The memorable assassination—A scrap of curious history—Switzerland, the cradle of liberty—At the Shrine of St. Wagner—William Dean Howells—English as she is taught—A simplified alphabet—As concerns interpreting the Deity—Concerning tobacco—The bee—Taming the bicycle—Is Shakespeare dead?
