The book focuses on the thought of 24 influential European and American thinkers, ranging historically from the Renaissance to postmodernism, focusing centrally on 20th-century humanist and anti-humanist debates. From foundational writers (some of whom have been claimed as anti-humanists) such as Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Dewey and Sartre, to the contemporary thinkers Habermas, Cixous, Rorty, Hall and Haraway, the book constructs a series of provocative dialogues which suggest the ongoing relevance of humanism to issues of ethics, art, science and religion.