“Velkley handles his subject with skill and style, moving easily from Rousseau to Kant, and from the latter’s earlier to his later works. This is a significant piece of scholarship not merely for its historical insights but also because of the new focus it provides for interpreting Kant’s philosophy as a whole.”
— Ethics
“Velkley has produced an outstanding philosophical work on the late modern problem of the relation between reason and freedom.”
— Review of Politics
“The picture of Kant that emerges from this fascinating study is at once richer and more complex than the straw man who often appears in the works of defenders and detractors alike.”
— American Political Science Review
“Velkley’s reconstruction of Kant’s encounter with Rousseau is sufficiently interesting to reward the reader of this thoughtful and impressively researched book. By leaving aside stale debates about ‘influence’ in favor of an account of how one philosopher creatively responded to the challenges posed by another, Velkley provides a useful model of how scholars should deal with encounters between great minds.”
— Political Theory