"The best and most mature expression of [Cassirer's] thought."-Journal of Philosophy

"No reader of this book can fail to be struck by the grandeur of its program or by the sensitive humanism of the author."-Ernest Nagel, The Humanist

One of the twentieth century's greatest philosophers presents the results of his lifetime study of man's cultural achievements. An Essay on Man is an original synthesis of contemporary knowledge, a unique interpretation of the intellectual crisis of our time, and a brilliant vindication of man's ability to resolve human problems by the courageous use of his mind.

What the thinkers of the past have thought of the human race, what can be said of its art, language, and capacities for good and evil in the light of modern knowledge are discussed by a great philosopher who had a profound experience of the past and of his own time.