Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity: An Essay on Desire, Practical Reasoning, and Narrative

338 Pages·2016·1.63 MB·English

by  Alasdair MacIntyre

ETHICS IN THE CONFLICTS
OF MODERNITY
AlasdairMacIntyreexploressomecentralphilosophical,political,and
moralclaimsofmodernityandarguesthataproperunderstandingof
humangoodsrequiresarejectionoftheseclaims.Inawide-ranging
discussion,heconsidershownormativeandevaluativejudgmentsare
tobeunderstood,howdesireandpracticalreasoningaretobechar-
acterized,whatitistohaveadequateself-knowledge,andwhatpart
narrative plays in our understanding of human lives. He asks, fur-
ther, what it would be to understand the modern condition from a
neoAristotelianorThomisticperspective,andarguesthatThomistic
Aristotelianism, informed by Marx’s insights, provides us with
resourcesforconstructingacontemporarypoliticsandethicswhich
both enable and require us to act against modernity from within
modernity. This rich and important book builds on and advances
MacIntyre’sthinkinginethicsandpoliticalphilosophy,andwillbeof
greatinteresttoreadersinbothfields.
alasdair macintyre retired from teaching at the University of
Notre Dame in 2010. He is the author of the award-winning After
Virtue(1981),andhisotherpublicationsincludetwovolumesofessays,
The Tasks of Philosophy and Ethics and Politics (both Cambridge,
2006), Edith Stein: A Philosophical Prologue 1913–1922 (2005), and
God, Philosophy, Universities: A History of the Catholic Philosophical
Tradition(2009).

ETHICS IN THE CONFLICTS
OF MODERNITY
An Essay on Desire, Practical Reasoning, and Narrative
ALASDAIR MACINTYRE
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Title:Ethicsintheconflictsofmodernity:anessayondesire,
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Description:NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2016.
Identifiers:lccn2016021890|isbn9781107176454(hardback)
Subjects:LCSH:Desire(Philosophy)|Ethics.|Philosophyandsocialsciences.|
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Contents
Preface pageix
1 Desires,goods,and‘good’:somephilosophicalissues 1
1.1 Desires,whytheymatter,whattheyare;whatisittohaveagood
1
reasonfordesiringsomething?
1.2 ‘Good’,goods,anddisagreementsaboutgoods 13
1.3 Expressivistaccountsof‘good’andofdisagreementsaboutgoods 17
1.4 ‘Good’andgoodsunderstoodintermsofhumanflourishing:
24
enterAristotle
1.5 WhatisatoddsbetweenexpressivistsandNeoAristotelians 31
1.6 Tworivalcharacterizationsofmoraldevelopment 35
1.7 Instructiveconflictsbetweenanagent’sjudgmentsandherdesires:
41
expressivists,Frankfurt,andNietzsche
1.8 TheNeoAristotelianconceptionoftherationalagent 49
1.9 ExpressivistsversusNeoAristotelians:aphilosophicalconflictinwhich
59
neitherpartyseemsabletodefeattheother
1.10 WhyIhaveputononesidenotonlythephilosophicalstandpointsof
64
mostrecentmoralphilosophers,butalsotheirmoralstandpoint
2 Theory,practice,andtheirsocialcontexts 70
2.1 Howtorespondtothetypeofphilosophicaldisagreementdescribed
inChapter1:thesocialcontextsofphilosophicaltheorizing 70
2.2 Humeasanexample:hislocalandparticularconceptionofthe
79
naturalandtheuniversal
2.3 Aristotleandhissocialcontext;Aquinas’srecoveryofAristotlefrom
85
thatcontext;howAquinasseemedtohavebecomeirrelevant
2.4 Marx,surplusvalue,andtheexplanationofAquinas’sapparent
93
irrelevance
2.5 Academiceconomicsasamodeofunderstandingand
101
misunderstanding
2.6 MarxistsandDistributistsasrivalcriticsofthedominant
106
standpoint
2.7 Whathavewelearnedabouthowtoproceedbeyondtheimpasseof
Chapter1? 110
vii
viii Contents
3 Moralityandmodernity 114
3.1 Morality,themoralityofmodernity 114
3.2 ThemodernityinwhichMoralityisathome 120
3.3 Stateandmarket:theethics-of-the-stateandtheethics-of-themarket 124
3.4 Desires,ends,andthemultiplicationofdesires 129
3.5 Thestructuringofdesiresbynorms 133
3.6 HowandwhyMoralityfunctionsasitdoes 136
3.7 Moralityputinquestionbyexpressivism:thelimitsofanexpressivist
138
critique
3.8 MoralityputinquestionbyOscarWilde 141
3.9 MoralityputinquestionbyD.H.Lawrence 146
3.10 MoralityputinquestionbyBernardWilliams 150
3.11 QuestionsposedtoandbyWilliams 158
4 NeoAristotelianismdevelopedincontemporaryThomistic
terms:issuesofrelevanceandrationaljustification 166
4.1 ProblemsposedforNeoAristotelians 166
4.2 Families,workplaces,andschools:commongoodsandconflicts 168
4.3 Thepoliticsoflocalcommunityandconflict:DanishandBrazilian
176
examples
4.4 Practicalrationalityfromthestandpointofthedominantorder 183
4.5 PracticalrationalityfromaNeoAristotelianstandpoint 189
4.6 Thedominantconceptionofhappiness 193
4.7 TheNeoAristoteliancritiqueofthedominantconception 196
4.8 Somecontemporaryconflictsandincoherences 202
4.9 HowThomisticAristoteliansjustifytheirclaimsincontemporary
206
debates:issuesofrationaljustification
4.10 TherelevanceofthevirtuesunderstoodinAristotelianand
214
Thomisticterms
4.11 BernardWilliams’critiqueofAristotelianandThomisticconceptsand
220
arguments:aresponse
4.12 Narratives 231
4.13 Continuingdisagreementsconcerningnarrative 238
5 Fournarratives 243
5.1 Introductory 243
5.2 VasilyGrossman 244
5.3 SandraDayO’Connor 264
5.4 C.L.R.James 273
5.5 DenisFaul 296
5.6 Sowhat? 309
Index 316