Alasdair MacIntyre
Also known as Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre
Scottish-American moral philosopher (1929 to 2025); wrote After Virtue.
At a glance
Main ideas
The Enlightenment project failed, Traditions, Aristotle restored …
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After Virtue, Whose Justice? Which Rationality?
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- MacIntyre was a moral and political philosopher whose After Virtue (1981) is one of the most important works of 20th-century English-language moral philosophy.
- He argued that modern moral argument is incoherent, having lost the Aristotelian idea of human purpose.
- He sought to revive virtue ethics through traditions of thought and practice.
- He taught in Britain and then at many American universities, ending at Notre Dame.
Why it matters
- He is central to the revival of virtue ethics and a major critic of liberal individualism.
Key facts
- Born
- 12 Jan 1929, Glasgow1
- Died
- 21 May 2025, South Bend, Indiana, aged 961
- Education
- Queen Mary College, London; MA, University of Manchester; Oxford1
- Career
- Manchester, Leeds, Essex and Oxford; in the US from about 1969, including Brandeis, Boston University, Vanderbilt, Duke and Notre Dame1
- Notre Dame
- Rev. John A. O'Brien Senior Research Professor of Philosophy from 2000, emeritus from 20101
- Offices
- President of the American Philosophical Association1
- Honours
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1985); British Academy (1994); Aquinas Medal (2010)1
Main ideas
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The Enlightenment project failed1
Trying to ground morality in reason without human purpose led to emotivism and Nietzsche.
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Traditions1
Moral disputes happen within and between rival traditions of inquiry.
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Aristotle restored1
A teleological ethics of the virtues, rooted in community.
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Local communities1
Communities should defend their way of life against corrosive modern influences.
Books to start with
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A study in moral theory.
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Whose Justice? Which Rationality?1
Rival traditions of justice.
Connections
Writes
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
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