This book investigates how the philosophical works of Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Kierkegaard function as responses to the condition of modernism, where the relationship between philosophy and its own history has become problematic. Stephen Mulhall, a scholar of contemporary philosophy, examines these thinkers to determine how their individual methodologies address the crisis of philosophical inheritance. By analyzing their primary texts, he constructs a framework that bridges the divide between analytic and continental traditions, proposing a new way to conceive of philosophical practice in the modern era.

Scholars and students of philosophy frequently cite this text for its ability to bridge the gap between disparate philosophical traditions. Experts highlight the author's rigorous approach to textual analysis as a foundational resource for those studying the intersection of existentialism and linguistic philosophy.