MacIntyre’s Search for a Defensible Aristotelian Ethics and the Role of Metaphysics

Abstract

MacIntyre is a major defender of the resurgence of the Aristotelian approach in ethical and political theory. He considers Aristotelianism not only a feasible, but also an intellectually superior alternative to most contemporary dominant ideologies, and to liberalism in particular. There is, however, an important and instructive modification to his view of what is admissible from Aristotle that should be accounted for. The paper traces MacIntyre’s search for a defensible restatement of the Aristotelian ethics and examines in particular his changing attitude to metaphysics as the basis for ethics within his project. Different stages of the development to his proposed Aristotelian alternative are analyzed and evaluated. The paper tries to show that despite the fact that MacIntyre initially repudiated Aristotle’s metaphysical biology, nevertheless his account has always been (implicitly or explicitly) metaphysical.

An Evaluation of Justice and Right to Health Concepts in the Perspectives of Ethical Theories

“…MacIntyre, Aristotelyan etiğin, insanı ve insanın telosunu tanımlamasının, onun etik kuramının temelini oluşturduğunu, liberal teorilerin böyle bir tanımlamadan yoksun oldukları için etik temellendirmelerinin yeterli olmadığını ileri sürer. 16 …”