What Happened in and to Moral Philosophy in the Twentieth Century? : Philosophical Essays in Honor of Alasdair MacIntyre

What Happened in and to Moral Philosophy in the Twentieth Century? is a volume of essays originally presented at University College Dublin in 2009 to celebrate the eightieth birthday of Alasdair MacIntyre—a protagonist at the center of that very question. What marks this collection is the unusual range of approaches and perspectives, representing divergent and even contradictory positions. Such variety reflects MacIntyre's own intellectual trajectory, which led him to engage successively with various schools of thought: analytic, Marxist, Christian, atheist, Aristotelian, Augustinian, and Thomist. This collection presents a unique profile of twentieth-century moral philosophy and is itself an original contribution to ongoing debate. The volume begins with Alasdair MacIntyre's fascinating philosophical self-portrait,'On Having Survived the Academic Moral Philosophy of the Twentieth Century,'which charts his own intellectual development. The first group of essays considers MacIntyre's revolutionary contribution to twentieth-century moral philosophy: its value in understanding and guiding human action, its latent philosophical anthropology, its impetus in the renewal of the Aristotelian tradition, and its application to contemporary interests. The next group of essays considers the complementary and competing traditions of emotivism, Marxism, Thomism, and phenomenology. A third set of essays presents thematic analyses of such topics as evolutionary ethics, accomplishment and just desert, relativism, evil, and the inescapability of ethics. MacIntyre responds with a final essay,'What Next?'which addresses questions raised by contributors to the volume. What Happened in and to Moral Philosophy in the Twentieth Century? is a volume of essays originally presented at University College Dublin in 2009 to celebrate the eightieth birthday of Alasdair MacIntyrea protagonist at the center of that very question. What marks this collection is the unusual range of approaches and perspectives, representing divergent and even contradictory positions. Such variety reflects MacIntyre's own intellectual trajectory, which led him to engage successively with various schools of analytic, Marxist, Christian, atheist, Aristotelian, Augustinian, and Thomist. This collection presents a unique profile of twentieth-century moral philosophy and is itself an original contribution to ongoing debate. The volume begins with Alasdair MacIntyre's fascinating philosophical self-portrait, "On Having Survived the Academic Moral Philosophy of the Twentieth Century," which charts his own intellectual development. The first group of essays considers MacIntyre's revolutionary contribution to twentieth-century moral its value in understanding and guiding human action, its latent philosophical anthropology, its impetus in the renewal of the Aristotelian tradition, and its application to contemporary interests. The next group of essays considers the complementary and competing traditions of emotivism, Marxism, Thomism, and phenomenology. A third set of essays presents thematic analyses of such topics as evolutionary ethics, accomplishment and just desert, relativism, evil, and the inescapability of ethics. MacIntyre responds with a final essay, "What Next?" which addresses questions raised by contributors to the volume. On having survived the academic moral philosophy of the twentieth century / Alasdair MacIntyre Keeping philosophy relevant and humanistic / John Haldane Ethics at the limits : a reading of Dependent rational animals / Joseph Dunne Alasdair MacIntyre's revisionary Aristotelianism : pragmatism opposed, Marxism outmoded, Thomism transformed / Kelvin Knight Alasdair MacIntyre : reflections on a philosophical identity, suggestions for a philosophical project / Arthur Madigan Against the self-images of the age : MacIntyre and Løgstrup / Hans Fink MacIntyre and the emotivists / James Edwin Mahon Naturalism, nihilism, and perfectionism : Stevenson, Williams, and Nietzsche in twentieth-century moral philosophy / Stephen Mulhall Marxism and the ethos of the twentieth century / Raymond Geuss Parallel projects : Alasdair MacIntyre's virtue ethics, thirteenth-century pastoral theology (Leonard Boyle, O.P.), and Thomistic moral theology (Servasi Pinckaers, O.P.) / James McEvoy The perfect storm : on the loss of nature as a normative theonomic principle in moral philosophy / Steven A. Long Forgiveness at the limit : impossible or possible? / Richard Kearney Evolutionary ethics : a metaphysical evaluation / Fran O'Rourke The social epistemological normalization of contestable narratives : stories of just deserts / Owen Flanagan History, fetishism, and moral change / Jonathan Rée Relativism, coherence, and the problems of philosophy / Elijah Millgram Ethics and the evil of being / William Desmond The inescapability of ethics / Gerard Casey Epilogue: What next? / Alasdair MacIntyre. Cover Half title Title page Copyright Contents Introduction Chapter 1: On Having Survived the Academic Moral Philosophy of the Twentieth Century PART I: Reading Alasdair MacIntyre Chapter 2: Keeping Philosophy Relevant and Humanistic Chapter 3: Ethics at the Limits Chapter 4: Alasdair MacIntyre’s Revisionary Aristotelianism Chapter 5: Alasdair MacIntyre Chapter 6: Against the Self-Images of the Age PART II: Complementary and Competing Traditions Chapter 7: MacIntyre and the Emotivists Chapter 8: Naturalism, Nihilism, and Perfectionism Chapter 9: Marxism and the Ethos of the Twentieth Century Chapter 10: Parallel Projects Chapter 11: The Perfect Storm Chapter 12: Forgiveness at the Limit PART III: Thematic Analyses Chapter 13: Evolutionary Ethics Chapter 14: The Social Epistemological Normalization of Contestable Narratives Chapter 15: History, Fetishism, and Moral Change Chapter 16: Relativism, Coherence, and the Problems of Philosophy Chapter 17: Ethics and the Evil of Being Chapter 18: The Inescapability of Ethics Epilogue Contributors Index of Names "What Happened in and to Moral Philosophy in the Twentieth century? is a volume of essays originally presented at University College Dublin in 2009 to celebrate the eightieth birthday of Alasdair MacIntyre--a protagonist at the center of that very question. What marks this collection is the unusual range of approaches and perspectives, representing divergent and even contradictory positions. Such variety reflects MacIntyre's own intellectual trajectory, which led him to engage successively with various schools of thought: analytic, Marxist, Christian, atheist, Aristotelian, Augustinian, and Thomist. This collection presents a unique profile of twentieth-century moral philosophy and is itself an original contribution to ongoing debate." -- book jacket