He also praised Nozick's discussions of the identity of the self, knowledge, free will, and skepticism, writing that they provide "splendid insights and arguments".

[12] Gordon described the book as "amazingly original", and praised the "extraordinary elegance" of Nozick's arguments, as well as his "vigorous and enthusiastic style.

[14] Barker compared the book to Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature and MacIntyre's After Virtue (1981), and described it as "powerful", brilliant, and well-written.

"[27] The philosopher Bernard Williams credited Nozick with providing "the most subtle and ingenious discussion of propositional knowledge that I know".

[30] The philosopher Jonathan Wolff observed that Nozick's discussions of knowledge and skepticism have received much critical attention.

He credited Nozick with usefully developing ideas first put forward by the philosopher Fred Dretske a decade or more earlier.

[32] The philosopher Michael Bratman described the book as "a rich and wide-ranging exploration of some of the deepest issues in philosophy".