`Undoubtedly a major work - scholarly, learned, detailed ... Irwin's book will certainly be something for Aristotelians to discuss for a long time.'Times Higher Education Supplement

• I. The emergence of the problem: The problem of first principles; Inquiry and dialectic; Constructive dialectic; Puzzles and substance; The formal cause; Conditions for science; Puzzles about science; II. Solutions to the problem: The universal science; The science of being; Substance and essence; Essence and form; Form and substance; III. Applications of the solution: The soul as substance; Soul and mind; Action; The good of rational agents; The virtues of rational agents; The good of others; The state; Justice; The consequences of virtue and vice; Reconsiderations; Notes

`Undoubtedly a major work - scholarly, learned, detailed ... Irwin's book will certainly be something for Aristotelians to discuss for a long time.'Times Higher Education Supplement

• I. The emergence of the problem: The problem of first principles; Inquiry and dialectic; Constructive dialectic; Puzzles and substance; The formal cause; Conditions for science; Puzzles about science; II. Solutions to the problem: The universal science; The science of being; Substance and essence; Essence and form; Form and substance; III. Applications of the solution: The soul as substance; Soul and mind; Action; The good of rational agents; The virtues of rational agents; The good of others; The state; Justice; The consequences of virtue and vice; Reconsiderations; Notes