The book starts off by giving a quick overview of the main phases within the history of philosophy in the Western tradition. It then homes in on the “modern” phase and proceeds to select key thinkers that represent that slice from the rich intellectual heritage of the West. The main chapters have these thinkers’ names as heading.

The work is meant to be expository and discursive, suited to introduce the neophyte in philosophy to some of the big questions asked by philosophers and their methods of addressing these questions as well as their unique proposed answers. The coverage is selective rather than extensive; and hence, only a small portion of the philosopher’s corpus of writings will be hand-picked and considered.