Philosophy only does justice to its own definition when it understands itself as a mode of human self-knowledge. Axel Hutter attempts to translate this ancient idea for our contemporary understanding by getting to grips with the three ideas that have been at the core of philosophical thinking since time immemorial: freedom, God, and immortality. "Hutter rediscovers the depth of narrations without falling into the trap of accepting the meaninglessness of the universe only in order to confront it with the desperate attempt to cover up an existential void with mere myth". Markus Gabriel in the foreword to the English edition, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2022