Virtue Ethics and Contemporary Aristotelianism: Modernity, Conflict and Politics

Description

This compelling and distinctive volume advances Aristotelianism by bringing its traditional virtue ethics to bear upon characteristically modern issues, such as the politics of economic power and egalitarian dispute. Clearly divided into three parts and featuring a contribution from Alasdair MacIntyre, this volume bridges the gap between Aristotle's philosophy and the multitude of contemporary Aristotelian theories that have been formulated in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Part I draws on Aristotle's texts and Thomas Aquinas' Aristotelianism to examine the Aristotelian tradition of virtues, with a chapter by Alasdair MacIntyre contextualising the different readings of Aristotle's philosophy. Part II offers a critical engagement with MacIntyrean Aristotelianism, assessing MacIntyre's development of Aristotelian themes and revealing their conflict with modernity. Firmly establishing the relevance of Aristotle's thought today, Part III demonstrates the ongoing influence of Aristotelianism in contemporary theoretical debates on governance and politics. Extensive in its historical scope, this is a valuable collection relating the tradition of virtue to modernity, which will be of interest to all working in virtue ethics and contemporary Aristotelian politics. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Contributors Introduction Part 1: The Aristotelian tradition of virtues Chapter 1: Four – or more? – political Aristotles I II III IV V Bibliography Chapter 2: Plato and Aristotle on nature and society I II III IV V VI VII Notes Bibliography Chapter 3: ‘Managers would not need subordinates and masters would not need slaves’ Introduction Aristotle’s account of phusis From Physics to the Generation of Animals The relationships of oikia and political rule The case of slavery: A reconsideration Oikonomikē, chrēmatistikē, kapilikē and a concluding remark Notes Bibliography Chapter 4: Aristotle and two senses of happiness I What does happiness consist in? II Encountering a monist account III What kind of life is the happiest life? IV Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 5: ‘Going through time together’: Aristotelian friendship and the criterion of time I Philia and suzēn: The criterion of time and the test of friendship II The object of love and the forms of Aristotelian friendship III ‘Living together’ as an essential requirement for friendship: Chronos, kairos and philia IV Conclusion Notes Bibiography Chapter 6: Byzantine Thomism: Aristotelianism and Thomas Aquinas’ reception in Byzantium Introduction I Philosophical and theological controversies in late Byzantium II Contacts between Byzantines and Latins in the fourteenth century III Demetrius Cydones’ encounter with Thomas Aquinas IV The edition princeps of the Secunda Secundae Notes Bibliography Part 2: Modernity, conflict and MacIntyrean Aristotelianism Chapter 7: Aristotelianism, Austinianism and the problem of the good Notes Bibliography Chapter 8: Virtues and the common good: Alasdair MacIntyre reads Aristotle 1 Background: The revival of Aristotelian ethics 2 Alasdair MacIntyre’s ‘Aristotelian’ theory of virtues 3 Aristotle’s general account of the good 4 The role of the ergon argument in Aristotle’s moral philosophy 5 Does Aristotle’s ethical thinking rely on ‘metaphysical biology’? 6 Universalist or community-relative grounding of Aristotelian virtues? 7 MacIntyre and Aristotle on the common good of the community 8 Whose justice? 9 No external standard? 10 Political virtues 11 The virtues of dependent beings 12 Concluding remarks Notes Bibliography Chapter 9: Williams and MacIntyre on the human good and ethical objectivity Introduction 1 Williams’ conceptual critique of the ‘good’ 2 Williams’ substantive critique of the final good according to human nature 3 MacIntyre’s account of the human good 4 MacIntyre’s reply to Williams Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 10: Alasdair MacIntyre’s Nietzschean anti-modernism I II III IV V Notes Bibliography Part 3: Virtue ethics and modern social and political theory Chapter 11: From field to forest?: Exploring limits of virtue ethics Introduction I Reconnoitring ethical-spiritual terrain II In the forest III Virtue in the forest IV Conclusion: Contemporary bearings Notes References Chapter 12: Aristotle and the politics of recognition Introduction I II III IV V VI Conclusion Notes References Chapter 13: Human flourishing and labour: Aristotle, MacIntyre and Marx Introduction Aristotle on banausoi MacIntyre’s Aristotelianism of virtuous work Freedom and labour in Marx Conclusion Note References Chapter 14: Alasdair MacIntyre’s Aristotelianism: A Marxist critique Introduction References Index