This book provides a comparative study of the accounts of the relationship between essence and existence, which are provided by Sadra and Hegel respectively. Sadra is presented as having a project that is similar in scope to Hegel’s own.

The author argues that while Sadra shares with Hegel the latter’s rejection of essence as the positive quality of a determinate being, Sadra’s characterization of essence as the negative quality of a determinate (existent) is seen as too one-sided from Hegel’s perspective. This book would be primarily useful for Hegel scholars, scholars of Islamic philosophy, and those who are engaged in comparative philosophy.