Whose Justice? Which Rationality? - Hardcover

MacIntyre, Alasdair

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0268019428 ISBN 13: 9780268019426

Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press, 1988

Synopsis

Whose Justice? Which Rationality?, the sequel to After Virtue, is a persuasive argument of there not being rationality that is not the rationality of some tradition. MacIntyre examines the problems presented by the existence of rival traditions of inquiry in the cases of four major philosophers: Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and Hume.

About this title

About the Author

Alasdair MacIntyre is Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Contemporary Aristotelian Studies in Ethics and Politics at London Metropolitan University and Rev John A. O'Brien Senior Research Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of numerous books, including After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, A Short History of Ethics, and Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry: Encyclopaedia, Genealogy, and Tradition, all published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

Reviews

Is there any cause or war worth risking one's life for? How can we determine which actions are vices and which virtues? MacIntyre, professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University, unravels these and other such questions by linking the concept of justice to what he calls practical rationality. He rejects the grab-what-you-can, utilitarian yardstick adopted by moral relativists. Instead, he argues that four wholly different, incompatible ideas of justiceput forth by Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas and Humehave helped shape our modern individualistic world. In his unorthodox view, each person seeks the good through an ongoing dialogue with one of these traditions or within Jewish, non-Western or other historical traditions. This weighty sequel to After Virtue (1981) is certain to stir debate.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this sequel to After Virtue ( LJ 9/15/81), MacIntyre contends that any rational justification of moral judgments must presuppose some particular tradition's conception of rationality. He illustrates his contention by examining four philosophersAristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and Humeto show how their different views about justice and practical rationality derive from different sources. MacIntyre asserts that although a tradition may fail by its own standards, the answer to any question about justice depends upon the historical, social, and cultural situation of the respondent and upon how he sees himself. The book's historical analyses are clear and stimulating, but the arguments for its own thesis are cloudy and ineffectual.Robert Hoffman, York Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0268019428
• ISBN 13: 9780268019426
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 422