Ideas from 'After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory' by Alasdair MacIntyre [1981], by Theme Structure
[found in 'After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory' by MacIntyre,Alasdair [Duckworth 1982,0-7156-1663-3]].
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1. Philosophy / B. History of Ideas / 5. Later European Thought
8060
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In the 17th-18th centuries morality offered a cure for egoism, through altruism
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1. Philosophy / B. History of Ideas / 6. Twentieth Century Thought
8053
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Twentieth century social life is re-enacting eighteenth century philosophy
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1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy
8047
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Philosophy has been marginalised by its failure in the Enlightenment to replace religion
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2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 9. Limits of Reason
8062
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Proof is a barren idea in philosophy, and the best philosophy never involves proof
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12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 5. Empiricism Critique
8052
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To find empiricism and science in the same culture is surprising, as they are really incompatible
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14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 4. Prediction
8057
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Unpredictability doesn't entail inexplicability, and predictability doesn't entail explicability
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14. Science / B. Scientific Theories / 1. Scientific Theory
8054
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Social sciences discover no law-like generalisations, and tend to ignore counterexamples
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16. Persons / E. Rejecting the Self / 3. Narrative Self
21050
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I can only make decisions if I see myself as part of a story
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18. Thought / B. Mechanics of Thought / 6. Artificial Thought / a. Artificial Intelligence
8056
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AI can't predict innovation, or consequences, or external relations, or external events
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22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / c. Purpose of ethics
8059
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The good life for man is the life spent seeking the good life for man
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22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / d. Ethical theory
8034
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We still have the appearance and language of morality, but we no longer understand it
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8036
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Unlike expressions of personal preference, evaluative expressions do not depend on context
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8049
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Moral judgements now are anachronisms from a theistic age
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22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / b. Rational ethics
8045
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The failure of Enlightenment attempts to justify morality will explain our own culture
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22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / c. Ethical intuitionism
8051
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Mention of 'intuition' in morality means something has gone wrong with the argument
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22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / e. Human nature
8048
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When 'man' is thought of individually, apart from all roles, it ceases to be a functional concept
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22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / h. Expressivism
8035
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In trying to explain the type of approval involved, emotivists are either silent, or viciously circular
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8037
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The expression of feeling in a sentence is in its use, not in its meaning
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8040
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Emotivism cannot explain the logical terms in moral discourse ('therefore', 'if..then')
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8042
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Nowadays most people are emotivists, and it is embodied in our culture
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23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / a. Nature of virtue
8058
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Maybe we can only understand rules if we first understand the virtues
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23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / d. Virtue theory critique
7097
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Virtue is secondary to a role-figure, defined within a culture [Statman]
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23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / e. Character
8043
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Characters are the masks worn by moral philosophies
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23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / h. Right feelings
8061
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If morality just is emotion, there are no external criteria for judging emotions
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23. Ethics / E. Utilitarianism / 1. Utilitarianism
8038
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Since Moore thinks the right action produces the most good, he is a utilitarian
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24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 3. Natural Values / c. Natural rights
8050
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There are no natural or human rights, and belief in them is nonsense
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28. God / A. Divine Nature / 4. Divine Contradictions
8055
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If God is omniscient, he confronts no as yet unmade decisions, so decisions are impossible
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