The MacIntyre Reader

Alasdair Mac

Intyre is one of the most controversial philosophers and social theorists of our time. He opposes liberalism and postmodernism with the teleological arguments of an updated Thomistic Aristotelianism. It is this tradition, he claims, which presents the best theory so far about the nature of rationality, morality and politics. This is the first Reader of Mac

Intyre's work. It includes extracts from and synopses of two famous books from the 1980s, After Virtue and Whose Justice? Which Rationality?, as well as the whole of several shorter works (one published for the first time in English) and two interviews. Taken together, these constitute not only a representative collection of his work but also the most powerful and accessible presentation of his arguments yet available.

The Reader also includes a summary, by the editor, of the development of Mac

Intyre's central ideas, and an extensive guide to further reading. Students will find the book a useful guide to Mac

Intyre's case against both capitalist institutions and academic orthodoxies.

Review

"Knight's judicious selection of readings from Mac

Intyre's writings succeeds in exemplifying three virtues which are difficult to combine. First, they give a good indication of the range of Mac

Intyre's work. Secondly, they provide a good sense of the development of Mac

Intyre's project. Finally, each of the extracts is independently comprehensible while taken together they constitute a coherent whole. In all these respects it is hard to see how the editor could have better executed what is a difficult task. This is an accessible text which does full justice to the range and depth of Mac

Intyre's thought." John Horton, Keele University"Alasdair Mac

Intyre is one of the most engaging, thought-provoking and challenging philosophers of our time. Kelvin Knight's judicious selection of Mac

Intyre's writings and his perceptive informative introduction provide an excellent guide to the full range of Mac

Intyre's thinking. Knight follows Mac

Intyre's intellectual development from his early days when he wrote brashly for the socialist journal, The New Reasoner through the development of his neo-Aristotelianism and his more recent turn to Thomism. The Mac

Intyre Reader enables one to gain a sensitive appreciation of the narrative continuity and breaks in Mac

Intyre's intellectual journey. Altogether a splendid feast of a truly independent thinker." Richard J. Bernstein, New School for Social Research, New York"This interesting collection offers a clear picture of Alasdair Mac

Intyre's powerful critique of modern philosophy and politics. What is particularly compelling is the critique of modern epistemology, which is at the heart of so much of today's thought. Mac

Intyre shows convincingly how badly modern theories of knowledge have failed to understand how the subject of knowledge is embedded - in a collective project of enquiry, in social practices, and in a (largely implicit) understanding of reality. Many people are willing to acknowledge this embedding but very few thinkers have worked out its consequences with the rigour and depth that Mac

Intyre has achieved. This is what makes his work indispensable for whoever wants to understand the blind spots of modern philosophy. In fact, this collection gives a good sense of how wide and deep Mac

Intyre's philosophy has ranged over the last four decades." Charles Taylor, Mc

Gill University

From the Inside Flap

Alasdair Mac

Intyre is one of the most controversial philosophers and social theorists of our time. He opposes liberalism and postmodernism with the teleological arguments of an updated Thomistic Aristotelianism. It is this tradition, he claims, which presents the best theory so far about the nature of rationality, morality and politics. This is the first Reader of Mac

Intyre's work. It includes extracts from and synopses of two famous books from the 1980s, After Virtue and Whose Justice? Which Rationality?,