What are cause and effect, and meaning? What connects people? What is law and what is its foundation? The book guides the reader to a journey to philosophy. The questions range from theory of knowledge and philosophy of science to the problems of the being as a human being, social philosophy, and philosophy of law.
The tradition of explanation, which is typical for natural sciences, focuses on the concepts of cause and effect.
The tradition of understanding focuses on meanings and interpretation. Natural law theory and legal positivism are also analyzed.
The philosophies of Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Georg Henrik von Wright are discussed at many points in the book. Jürgen Habermas's discourse theory is presented as a synthesis in social theory and philosophy of law.
Erkki Kemppainen is a philosopher. He has previously been a civil servant for a long time.