Julie K. Ward examines Aristotle's thought regarding how language informs our views of what is real.

First she places Aristotle's theory in its historical and philosophical contexts in relation to Plato and Speusippus.

Ward then explores Aristotle's theory of language as it is deployed in several works, including Ethics, Topics, Physics, and Metaphysics, so as to consider its relation to dialectical practice and scientific explanation as Aristotle conceived it.