Abstract

According to MacIntyre, we have the mis fortune of living in a world deprived both of the virtues cherished by the classical tradition and the virtue of rule-following of later traditions. Sad as it may be, it is the case that ordinary people do not aspire any more to live virtuously in a society of unrestrained individualism, and that contemporary moral philosophers have dropped the subject of virtue from the list of their professional concerns. Thus we literally live after virtue. By grasping this simple fact, MacIntyre suggests, one can find an explanation of the great confusion and interminable disagreements of contemporary moral philosophers.