Description: Since its publication in 1981, Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue has been recognised as a classic. Primarily a work of moral philosophy, it also draws on sociology, classics, political science and theology to effect a unique intellectual synthesis, and its combination of erudition and challenging, even provocative argument has made a significant impact throughout the humanities disciplines. This volume of new essays unpacks the influence of After Virtue on ethical and political theory, sociology and theology, and offers a multi-faceted exploration of its significance. The essays offer a way into MacIntyre's philosophy, and demonstrate how, rather than waning in influence over the past forty years, his most seminal text has found an ever-wider audience and continues to inspire controversy and debate in the humanities.
Brief description: Tom Angier is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town. He is the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Ethics (Cambridge, 2019)., and the author of Human Nature, Human Goods: A Theory of Natural Perfectionism (Cambridge, forthcoming).
Review Quotes: '[The book] marks an important paradigm shift in ethical theory - a shift away from the dominant theories of utilitarianism and deontology - insofar as it introduces a series of concepts hitherto absent from contemporary moral philosophy. Highly recommended.' S. A. Mason, CHOICE