This collection of essays examines the life and thought of Agnes Heller who rose to international acclaim as a Marxist dissident in Eastern Europe then went on to develop one of the most comprehensive oeuvres in contemporary philosophy putting forward a distinctive ethical theory and analyses of a vast range of topics covering most every philosophical area. Here philosophers sociologists journalists and political scientists contextualize compare and assess different elements of Hellers work the collection as a whole highlights relevant shifts within that work as well as its intrinsic consistency. Essays in the collection address the relationship between philosophy political practice and everyday life Hellers theory of modernity and her ethical theory her recent scholarship on comedy and the Biblical book of Genesis her theories of radical needs and radical politics her aesthetic theory and questions about her relationship to feminist theory. The collection includes Hellers reflections on the collected essays as well as an early essay on her mentor LukOcs that exposes her own steadfast engagement with certain practical and philosophical issues throughout her lifes work.