This collection of essays and reviews reveals the sources and developments of popular Toronto philosopher and cultural theorist Mark Kingwell's thought and examines the nature and limits of intellectual engagement.

Mark Kingwell (PhD Yale 1991) is Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Senior Fellow of Massey College, University of Toronto. He is the author of five previous books and has been awarded many prizes for his writings.

'Kingwell's diverse essays together constitute a convincing case that "critical immersion in the world" has the potential to improve the quality of the practical judgments we are called upon to make daily. The possibility of improving the quality of such judgments in turn sustains cautious hope for a gradual improvement of the workaday world we share … The arguments are sound and innovative and engaging.'

'Kingwell's diverse essays together constitute a convincing case that "critical immersion in the world" has the potential to improve the quality of the practical judgments we are called upon to make daily. The possibility of improving the quality of such judgments in turn sustains cautious hope for a gradual improvement of the workaday world we share … The arguments are sound and innovative and engaging.'

'Kingwell's diverse essays together constitute a convincing case that "critical immersion in the world" has the potential to improve the quality of the practical judgments we are called upon to make daily. The possibility of improving the quality of such judgments in turn sustains cautious hope for a gradual improvement of the workaday world we share … The arguments are sound and innovative and engaging.'