After virtue
by Alasdair C. MacIntyre · first published 1981
60% recommend40% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Diagnoses modern moral debate as emotivist and argues for reviving Aristotelian virtue ethics, tracing how moral language changed. Demanding but rewarding; suits readers new to moral philosophy and the history of ideas.
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…change. Anyone who's concerned with modernity's apparent difficulty in handling "meaning of life" questions would be advised to discover how exactly we landed in this situation: http://www.amazon.com/After-Virtue-Study-Moral-Theory/dp/026...
on “When Philosophy Lost Its Way” ↗…these critiques don't really work is that they aim at symptomatic expressions and look past the difficult cultural problems at the root... which is kind of ironic, it seems to me. Alisdair MacIntyre's After Virtue, the 1981 "revival" of virtue ethics, is quite relevant. He starts by asking why discussions of ethics today end up as mere clashing subjective claim-making and position-taking, and he traces that back…
on “The lost hope of self-help” ↗Since R.M. Hare's "Language of Morals" is on the list, I recommend Alasdair MacIntyre's "After Virtue" should be on the list for any one who want to study Moral Philosophy today. Along with Popper and Kuhn's works on that list, read Larry Laudan's "Progress and its problems" and "Science and Relativism:…
on “Eminent Philosophers Name the Most Important Philosophy Books from 1950-2000” ↗Wonderful essay. I strongly recommend After Virtue as an introductory text to why virtue ethics is so important in the modern world. I find it very unfortunate that telos, the end-directed nature of people and our tools, has been wiped out by a focus…
on “Finding Virtue in the Virtual” ↗> Since R.M. Hare's "Language of Morals" is on the list, I recommend Alasdair MacIntyre's "After Virtue" should be on the list for any one who want to study Moral Philosophy today. “After Virtue” is a legit recommendation. > Along with Popper and Kuhn's works on that list, read Larry Laudan's "Progress…
on “Eminent Philosophers Name the Most Important Philosophy Books from 1950-2000” ↗I've read two books by the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre that deal with many of the issues Nietzsche was interested in and point out some flaws in Nietzsche's arguments. They are After Virtue and Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity. MacIntyre thinks that Nietzsche got a lot right, but overlooked some things and made some assumptions that put him down the wrong path. If you're going to use…
on “A new book about Nietzsche: tethering philosophy to the mess of daily experience” ↗Read After Virtue by Alasdair Macintyre if you want a hot take for & against this sort of thinking.
on “An Ethical Future for Brain Organoids Takes Shape?” ↗Have you also read Alasdair MacIntyre's "After Virtue" from 1981? As I understand it basically revived Aristotelian virtue ethics as a viable philosophical theory, indeed by thoroughly criticizing modern (post-Enlightenment) justifications of morality. It's…
on “Nicomachean Ethics” ↗There's an interesting book called After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre that does a good job of going through how these confusions over language arise. I haven't read it for years, but I liked how it explained how and why the language of philosophy…
on “Surprisingly undervalued books” ↗Also consider reading Alasdair MacIntyre's "After Virtue" if you're interested in philosophy (it takes effort, but rewards the reader). It characterizes modern society as emotivist. When you say: I'm overwhelmed by the volume of information, but even more…
on “Ask HN: The “I want to do everything but end up doing nothing” dilemma” ↗…deductions may be perfectly rational. In other words, rationality is a process, not a set of conclusions. One word for this is "tradition". If I've piqued your interest, please read Alasdair MacIntyre's book "After Virtue," and also it's sequel with a more provocative title, "Whose Justice? Which Rationality?"
on “Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.” ↗1. After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre 2. The Crisis of the Modern World by Rene Guenon 3. Islam and the Destiny of Man by Gai Eaton IMO these books are critical reading in a post-modern world to make any sense of…
on “Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?” ↗I am not Roman Catholic anymore, but I read After Virtue shortly after I graduated from college and it fundamentally changed my moral worldview for the better. I owe him a great debt. Requiescat in pace.
on “Remembering Alasdair MacIntyre” ↗Eastern Orthodox Christian. After Virtue is not a specifically Roman Catholic work, even though MacIntyre started slowly agree with its Aristotelian ethical system, and I still recommend the book to anyone willing to put in the work to understand…
on “Remembering Alasdair MacIntyre” ↗After Virtue is his most important work, I think, but the above titles are the logical follow-ups to read next.
on “Remembering Alasdair MacIntyre” ↗