The second volume of the edition of the writings of Susan Taubes includes her unpublished dissertation "The Absent God: A Study of Simone Weil," which she completed in 1956, as well as her essays and reviews published between 1951 and 1959 in renowned journals such as "The Journal of Religion" and "The Review of Metaphysics." Drawing on the fundamental lines of modernity, Susan Taubes examines Gnosticism and tragedy as cultural-historical constellations and uncovers hidden connections between Jewish experience and German philosophy in her philosophical writings. She develops a theory of tragedy ("The Nature of Tragedy," 1953), explores "The Gnostic Foundations of Heidegger's Nihilism" (1954), and comments on "The Puzzle of Simone Weil" (1956). Methodologically situated between the philosophy of religion and cultural studies, Susan Taubes' work is characterized by its theo.