Who Is Alasdair MacIntyre—and Why Does He Matter?
I was recently joined by Dr. Jim Madden and Dr. Francis Petrucelli to discuss the thought of Alasdair MacIntyre, who recently passed away. It was a good chat—and hopefully a helpful introduction for anyone curious about this titan of a philosopher.
Our conversation also took a fun turn—with some fruitful disagreement—when we started sharing concerns about MacIntyre’s virtue ethics, particularly worries about relativism.
Check it out when you get a chance. Or don’t! I’m not your dad.
Fascinating discussion, thanks to Dr. Petrucelli and Dr. Madden for the reading recommendations.
I read "Colors, Culture, and Practices" yesterday. Very difficult to know what to think. He actually mentions "gorm" in the paper which, even being bilingual, I can't properly convey in English. It's a known translation problem. So I can't deny most of what he says in section III. And yet there is an aspect of what Pat says in that there is some objective grounding for our colour vocabulary, even across cultures, in the properties of light itself. I would say beyond what MacIntyre says in Section II, although this is only clear if you know the quantum treatment of light. It certainly gets over some of what he sketches out as objections in Section III, I think, but hard to know if it gets over all of them.
So I'm oscillating between Pat and the lads, great stuff!