This introduction to the philosophy of Peter Winch combines analysis with exposition, to give access to Winch’s ideas. Although focusing on the influential Idea of a Social Science , the author also examines the impact of Wittgenstein’s ideas on Winch as well as Winch’s work on ethics, the philosophy of religion and his work on the philosophy of Simone Weil. By following the development of Winch’s ideas the book engages with many of the preoccupations of philosophy in Europe and North America in the second half of the 20th century. The book presents more than an assessment of the work of one man - dissatisfied with the state of current philosophy, the author makes a case for a more demanding conception of philosophy.