Christine Korsgaard is identified with a small group of philosophers who are intent on producing a version of Kant's moral philosophy that is at once sensitive to its historical roots while revealing its particular relevance to contemporary problems. She rejects the traditional picture of Kant's ethics as a cold vision of the moral life which emphasises duty at the expense of love and value.

Rather, Kant's work is seen as providing a resource for addressing not only the metaphysics of morals, but also for tackling practical questions about personal relations, politics, and everyday human interaction.

This collection of thirteen essays is divided into two parts. Part One offers an exposition and interpretation of the moral philosophy, and could serve as a commentary on The Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals. Part Two compares and contrasts Kant's philosophy with other influential moral philosophies, both historical (Aristotle, Sidgwick, Moore, and Hume) and contemporary (Williams, Nagel, and Parfit).

Two particular focal points of her interpretation are Kant's theory of value, and his widely misunderstood doctrine of the "two standpoints". When these ideas are fully explained, according to Korsgaard, many of the traditional problems with and puzzles about Kant's ethics disappear.