Alasdair MacIntyre, born Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre in 1929 and died in 2025, was a Scottish-born philosopher who taught for much of his career in the United States and became one of the most influential moral philosophers of the late twentieth century. He is best known for his 1981 book After Virtue, which argues that modern moral philosophy has inherited fragments of older ethical traditions, particularly Aristotelian virtue ethics, without the shared social and communal context those fragments originally depended on, leaving contemporary moral argument fundamentally disordered and irresolvable. Drawing increasingly on Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas over his career, MacIntyre became a leading figure in the revival of virtue ethics and in communitarian criticism of modern liberal individualism, arguing that genuine moral reasoning requires the kind of shared tradition and practice that modern societies had lost.
Facts
Notable Publication TraditionNeo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, Thomism 1 In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Alasdair MacIntyre (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationEarly life and education section, first sentence (birth year)
Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre was born on 12 January 1929 in Glasgow, to Eneas and Greta (Chalmers) MacIntyre.
Early life and education section, first sentence (birth date)
Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre was born on 12 January 1929 in Glasgow, to Eneas and Greta (Chalmers) MacIntyre.
Early life and education section, first sentence (birthplace)
Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre was born on 12 January 1929 in Glasgow, to Eneas and Greta (Chalmers) MacIntyre.
Death section, first sentence (death year)
MacIntyre died on 21 May 2025 at a care facility in South Bend, Indiana, at the age of 96.
Death section, first sentence (death date)
MacIntyre died on 21 May 2025 at a care facility in South Bend, Indiana, at the age of 96.
Death section, first sentence (death place)
MacIntyre died on 21 May 2025 at a care facility in South Bend, Indiana, at the age of 96.
Lead section, second sentence
MacIntyre's After Virtue (1981) is one of the most important works of Anglophone moral and political philosophy in the 20th century.
Virtue ethics section, first sentence
MacIntyre is a key figure in the recent surge of interest in virtue ethics, which identifies the central question of morality as having to do with the habits and knowledge concerning how to live a good life.
Lead section, nationality sentence
Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre (12 January 1929-21 May 2025) was a Scottish-American philosopher who contributed to moral and political philosophy as well as history of philosophy and theology.
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