Alasdair MacIntyre's Criticism of Modern Moral Philosophy

Is there any criterion by which we can evaluate different modern moral theories? Alasdair MacIntyre argues that modern moral philosophy does not have a rationally defensible standpoint from which to judge and to act and that it cannot solve moral dilemmas and cannot produce moral agreement. MacIntyre claims that the discovery of the good is possible through an understanding of the role and status of the moral agent in moral inquiry. He proposes to build a teleology based on the life of the moral agent, which is an enacted narrative within a particular social and historical context.§This dissertation discusses MacIntyre's criticism of modern moral philosophy focusing on the relationship of moral agency to community. The first chapter introduces MacIntyre's claim that modern moral philosophy presupposes the isolated rational judge who is separated from his or her particular social and historical context. The second chapter discusses the relationship between virtue and community that is in After Virtue. The third chapter deals with the development of MacIntyre's thought on practical reasoning shown in Whose Justice? Which Rationality, Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry, and First Principles, Final Ends and Contemporary Philosophical Issues. Finally, the fourth chapter examines how MacIntyre's attempt to reconstruct teleology based on social identity merges with his understanding of Aristotelian/Thomistic natural teleology.§This dissertation examines whether MacIntyre is successful in providing moral criterion by reintroducing teleology to the moral domain. MacIntyre's endeavor to reconstruct teleology in ethics starts with his interest in the particularity of the social and historical context. The quest for the good is embedded within everyday practice, narrative unity, and tradition. Political participation within the local community will provide the moral agent with the opportunity to exercise the political nature of human life. MacIntyre recognizes the relationship between human rationality and animality and reintroduces natural teleology to the moral and political domain. This dissertation claims that MacIntyre's conversion to natural teleology shows the necessary relationship between ethics and natural teleology. The turn to natural teleology does not entail a rejection of historical context, but rather enriches it.