After Virtue

After Virtue is a 1981 book by Alasdair MacIntyre that argues modern moral discourse is in a state of crisis and calls for a recovery of Aristotelian virtue ethics through a revived tradition-based practice. The work situates itself against figures and movements in 20th-century moral philosophy, proposing that moral language has become emotive and incommensurable without shared narrative frameworks. MacIntyre engages with a range of thinkers and institutions to locate the decline and potential restoration of ethical reasoning.

Background and Context

MacIntyre wrote the book amid debates in analytic philosophy and amid political shifts in the late 20th century involving Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and the Cold War dynamics between United States and Soviet Union. The intellectual backdrop includes responses to utilitarianism associated with Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, deontological positions linked to Immanuel Kant, and emotivist trends identified with A. J. Ayer and the logical positivists around Vienna Circle. MacIntyre also addresses historical sources from Aristotle and medieval scholasticism associated with Thomas Aquinas, while critiquing modernist projects tied to René Descartes, David Hume, and Karl Marx. The book intervenes in conversations among moral philosophers at institutions like Oxford University, University of Notre Dame, and engages with contemporaries including Alasdair MacIntyre’s critics such as G. A. Cohen and allies in the communitarian tradition like Michael Sandel.

Summary and Argument

MacIntyre diagnoses moral discourse as fragmented, tracing its degeneration to the collapse of teleological frameworks exemplified by the decline of Aristotelian virtue theory under pressures from early modern philosophers such as Hobbes and John Locke. He contends that emotivism—associated with thinkers like C. L. Stevenson and the analytic critics—renders moral claims expressions of preference rather than rational arguments, citing examples from debates over institutions such as United Nations and controversies involving public figures like Ted Kennedy and Margaret Thatcher. MacIntyre argues for a revived practice-based ethics rooted in historical traditions, narrative identity, and practices exemplified by guilds and institutions such as medieval craft guilds and universities like University of Paris and University of Bologna. He develops central concepts including "practice", "virtue" in Aristotelian terms, and "tradition-constituted rationality", drawing contrasts with modern moral theories associated with John Rawls, Bernard Williams, and Philippa Foot.

Reception and Criticism

Upon publication, After Virtue provoked wide scholarly debate across settings including seminars at Harvard University, Princeton University, and Cambridge University. Support came from readers sympathetic to revivalist themes such as Michael Walzer and Alasdair MacIntyre’s fellow communitarians including Charles Taylor and Michael Sandel, while critics ranged from proponents of analytic moral theory like Derek Parfit and Peter Singer to Marxist critics referencing Louis Althusser and Antonio Gramsci. Criticisms targeted MacIntyre’s historical claims about the coherence of pre-modern moral frameworks, his alleged nostalgia for pre-liberal orders, and practical implications for pluralistic societies represented by institutions like European Union and United States Congress. Reviews appeared in journals associated with Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press outlets, and periodicals influenced by intellectuals such as Isaiah Berlin and Jürgen Habermas.

Influence and Legacy

After Virtue significantly shaped debates in contemporary virtue ethics, influencing scholars at universities including Notre Dame, Yale University, and University of Chicago. Its legacy appears in curricular changes in departments linked to figures like Martha Nussbaum, Alasdair MacIntyre’s students, and in the rise of communitarian critiques of liberalism articulated by Michael Sandel and Charles Taylor. The book impacted discussions in applied fields involving bioethics at institutions such as Johns Hopkins University and legal theory conversations touching on precedents from United States Supreme Court. It also inspired organizations and conferences dedicated to virtue ethics and tradition-based inquiry, shaping interdisciplinary work crossing moral theology at seminaries tied to Vatican traditions and public policy seminars in think tanks like Brookings Institution.

Editions and Translations

Originally published in 1981 by Duckworth, subsequent editions were issued by University of Notre Dame Press with revisions and a new preface. Translations expanded its reach into languages and contexts including editions in French Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and People's Republic of China. Special anniversary and critical editions have included scholarly introductions by commentators associated with University of Notre Dame, Boston College, and Georgetown University, and academic symposia have convened at venues such as American Philosophical Association meetings and conferences organized by Society for Applied Philosophy.

Category:Books about ethics