In this collection of his essays published over a 40-year period, Professor Rickman engages in a spirited and erudite defense of philosophical investigation, refuting the popular notion that philosophy is a purely academic, highly technical subject with no relevance to everyday life. Rickman demonstrates that the great philosophers dealt with universal and timeless human issues and offers solutions that are still applicable today. Also discussed are such issues as hermeneutics, linguistic analysis, postmodernism, and deconstructionism.