In 1974, thirty-year-old philosopher and translator David Farrell Krell began corresponding and meeting with Martin Heidegger and Hannah Arendt. Years later, he would meet Jacques Derrida and, through many letters and visits, come to know him well. Drawing on unpublished correspondence and Krell's warmly told personal recollections, Three Encounters presents an intimate and highly insightful look at the lives and ideas of three noted philosophers at the peak of their careers.

Three Encounters offers a chance for readers to encounter these three great philosophers and their ideas, not merely through the lens of their biographies, but as "people" we come to know through their personal correspondence and Krell's recollections. Three Encounters demonstrates the intertwining of thought and lived experience.