Description
Book SynopsisTradition in the Ethics of Alasdair MacIntyre presents a stimulating intellectual history and expertly reasoned defense of this towering figure in contemporary American philosophy. Drawing on interviews and published works, Christopher Lutz traces MacIntyre''s philosophical development and refutes the criticisms of the major thinkersincluding Martha Nussbaum and Thomas Nagelwho have most vocally attacked him. Permanently shifting the debate on MacIntyre''s oeuvre, Lutz convincingly demonstrates how MacIntyre''s neo-Aristotelian ethical thought provides an essential corrective to the contemporary discussions of relativism and ideology, while successfully drawing on the objectivity of Thomistic natural law.
Trade ReviewThis manuscript presents the most substantial defense of MacIntyre against criticisms that are becoming tired through excessive repetition. It should serve to shift debate about MacIntyre's work to another and more worthwhile stage. -- Kelvin Knight, London Metropolitan University
I quite think it’s the best book we have to date on Alasdair. -- Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke University Divinity School
Christopher Lutz has written a splendid and measured exposition of my work and has discussed some major criticisms of it with unusual insight into what is at issue. When, on some few occasions, I am not completely certain that I meant what he says that I meant, I generally think that I ought to have meant what he says that I meant. -- Alasdair MacIntyre, research professor of philosophy, University of Notre Dame
This is a first-rate study — feisty, well-argued, and passionate in defense of its subject. -- William Haggerty * Review of Metaphysics *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 A Short History of Alasdair MacIntyre Chapter 2 Tradition-Constituted and Tradition-Constitutive Rationality Chapter 3 Is MacIntyre's Theory of Tradition Relativistic? Chapter 4 Is MacIntyre's Philosophy Thomism? Chapter 5 Is MacIntyre's Thomism Philosophy? Chapter 6 Conclusions
