Jun

13

A few weeks ago I read about the death of Alasdair MacIntyre, described in Wikipedia as a Scottish American philosopher. And in some obituaries as "one of the great moral philosophers of the 20th century".

I heard his name here on the SpecList about 10 years ago when someone (sorry, I do not remember who, maybe GB?) recommended his book After Virtue, saying that it described how philosophy has gone wrong in the 20th century and how to correct it.

Intrigued, I bought the book, but like many things on SpecList, it was harder to understand than I expected. I think I read the 1st chapter or so, but I guess my knowledge of Aristotelian philosophy was not adequate and I could not make much progress. So the book sat on my shelf until now. I also did not quite grasp what Aristotle got right that later philosophers missed or what going back to Aristotle's views would mean in practice. The whole idea of reviving an earlier tradition seemed odd to me, I guess.

But still I am glad Daily Speculations made me a better person, at least judging by the books I claim to have (partially) read. Maybe someone else can explain it in terms I would understand.


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