This book focuses on Hegel's philosophy of spirit, his major concept and the core of his mature system. It does not so much define Geist as it does illustrate its many forms and manifestations. It is a broad-ranging examination of Volume III of Hegel's Encyclopedia delineating his radical break with previous philosophy and illuminating the heart of his thought.

Several themes recur: the meaning and content of recognition and intersubjectivity, religion, Hegel's predecessors, and his contemporary successors or contrasts. Hegel's intentions and his audacity are made both clear and sharp in this work.