This work examines how social and political events intertwined and influenced philosophy during the early 20th-century, ultimately giving rise to two different schools of thought - analytic philosophy and continental philosophy.

Beginning with a confrontation in 1929 in Switzerland, Michael Friedman examines how the work of three pivotal philosophers evolved and intertwined over several years, ultimately giving rise to two very different schools of thought -- analytic philosophy and continental. The author explores the clashes that set them apart as they developed their own radical new ideas.