After Virtue

work by MacIntyre

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July 20, 2026

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Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue (1981) argues that modern moral theories fail to provide a rational basis for morality. MacIntyre suggests that the Enlightenment project of justifying morality has failed, leading to moral confusion. He proposes a return to virtue ethics, drawing heavily on the ideas of Aristotle.123

According to virtue ethics, morality is not about following rules or duties, but about cultivating excellent character traits essential for human flourishing. MacIntyre contends that moral norms can only regain intelligibility if grounded in a tradition, such as Aristotelian ethics. He critiques contemporary politics, particularly the nation-state, for hindering the development of virtuous communities.312

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Alasdair MacIntyre
After Virtue and later works
In the two decades following “Notes from the Moral Wilderness,” MacIntyre’s work consisted, in his words, in “heterogeneous, badly organized, sometimes fragmented and often frustrating and messy inquiries” in ethics, political philosophy, and social theory. But from this work emerged…
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In the two decades following “Notes from the Moral Wilderness,” MacIntyre’s work consisted, in his words, in “heterogeneous, badly organized, sometimes fragmented and often frustrating and messy inquiries” in ethics, political philosophy, and social theory. But from this work emerged…
Read More

ethics
Virtue ethics
…MacIntyre, in his pessimistic work After Virtue (1980), lent further support to virtue ethics by suggesting that what he called “the Enlightenment Project” of giving a rational justification of morality had failed. In his view, the only way out of the resulting moral confusion was to ground morality in a…
Read More
…MacIntyre, in his pessimistic work After Virtue (1980), lent further support to virtue ethics by suggesting that what he called “the Enlightenment Project” of giving a rational justification of morality had failed. In his view, the only way out of the resulting moral confusion was to ground morality in a…
Read More