"A clearly written and remarkably well-researched analysis of the concept of 'historical effect' . . . that lies at the heart of Gadamer's hermeneutics" (Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews). Observing that humans often deal with the past in problematic ways, Jerome Veith looks to philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer and his hermeneutics to clarify these conceptions of history and to present ways to come to terms with them. Veith fully engages Truth and Method as well as Gadamer's entire work and relationships with other German philosophers, especially Kant, Hegel, and Heidegger, in this endeavor. Veith considers questions about language, ethics, cosmopolitanism, patriotism, self-identity, and the status of the humanities in the academy in this very readable application of Gadamer's philosophical practice. "Jerome Veith is unique in presenting a performative analysis of how Gadamer appropriated the historical effect of three philosophers who were central to his thinking: Heidegger, Hegel, and Kant."―Lawrence K. Schmidt, author of Understanding Hermeneutics