If Plato is wise, then there are at least three things: Plato, wisdom, and Plato's wisdom. These are exemplary representatives of three ontological categories (substance, universal property, particularized property) that are fundamental to our orientation in the world. As a contribution to descriptive metaphysics in the sense of P.F. Strawson, Schnieder develops a conception of these categories and their interrelations. He explicates and defends classical ideas from the history of philosophy using analytical methodology, incorporating considerations from philosophy of language, modal logic, and mereology. Among other things, he argues that substances hold an ontological special status due to their existential independence. By responding to the renewed interest in metaphysics and explaining the basic features of current debates in an assumption-free manner, the book can.