Tradition, Rationality, and Virtue The Thought of Alasdair MacIntyre

Tradition, Rationality, and Virtue provides the first comprehensive and detailed treatment of the work of Alasdair MacIntyre. In this book Thomas D'Andrea presents an accessible critical study of the full range of MacIntyre's thought across ethical theory, psychoanalytic theory, social and political philosophy, Marxist theory, and the philosophy of religion. Moving from the roots of MacIntyre's thought in ethical inquiry, this book examines MacIntyre's treatment of Marx, Christianity, and the nature of human action and discusses in depth the development and applications of MacIntyre's After Virtue project. The book culminates in an examination of major internal and external criticisms of MacIntyre's work and a consideration of its future directions.

Contents: Introduction: Part I The Roots of MacIntyre's Thought: Reconceiving ethical inquiry; Philosophy and the exigence of Praxis; The rational resources of Christianity; The explanation of human action: social, psychological, and historical considerations. Part II The After Virtue Project: The After Virtue synthesis; The project developed; The project applied. Part III Future Directions: Continuities and discontinuities in the oeuvre; Criticisms, internal and external. Bibliography; Index.

Thomas D. D'Andrea is Senior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK.