 This difficult two-volume work sets out Alexander’s grand metaphysical picture, a sweeping system that offers a cosmogony, an explanation of how the world came to be in its current state; and a hierarchical ontology based on emergence that attempts to account for matter, life, mind, value, and deity. Alexander does not argue for this picture. Rather, he intends that his picture should provide a description of the world. This is in line with his general methodology.