'May's interpretation seems to explicate exactly how Aristotle understood the relationship between the intellectual life ... and the practical (moral) life ... According to May's interpretation, the conflict other scholars have perceived is simply an artifact of a misinterpretation of Aristotle's text. The moral life, she argues, is a necessary prerequisite for the attainment of the intellectual life--one simply cannot become a true intellectual unless and until one has fully mastered (and has become fully habituated to) being moral ... May's view is important not merely for its insight and originality. It also seems to me to get exactly right one of the most important and influential ethical works ever written.' Nicholas D. Smith, James F. Miller Professor of Humanities, Lewis & Clark College, Oregon