From one of Italy's most renowned philosophers and psychoanalysts, an urgent and stirring reflection on violence, morality, and our relationship with the Other. What lies at the foundation of human history and society? According to Massimo Recalcati, it is not love for one's neighbor, as preached by Jesus in the Gospels, but the brutality, jealousy, and violence depicted in the story of Cain and Abel.

This essay examines Cain's murderous act through the lens of psychoanalysis, showing how delusions of self-sufficiency and individual perfection lie at the deepest roots of fear and violence in our societies.