This unique book addresses trends such as vitalism, neo-Kantianism, existentialism, Marxism and feminism, and provides concise biographies of the influential philosophers who shaped these movements, including entries on over ninety thinkers.

• Offers discussion and cross-referencing of ideas and figures
• Provides Appendix on the distinctive nature of French academic culture

Alan D. Schrift is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Grinnell College Center for the Humanities. He is the author of Nietzsche and the Question of Interpretation: Between Hermeneutics and Deconstruction (1990), Nietzsche's French Legacy: A Genealogy of Poststructuralism (1995), Modernity and the Problem of Evil (2005), and the editor of six collections of essays, including The Logic of Gift: Toward an Ethic of Generosity (1997).