Full Idea
Maybe we need to attend to the virtues first in the first place in order to understand the function and authority of rules.
Gist of Idea
Maybe we can only understand rules if we first understand the virtues
Source
Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory [1981], Ch. 9)
Book Reference
MacIntyre,Alasdair: 'After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory' [Duckworth 1982], p.112
A Reaction
I think MacIntyre's project is exactly right. Morality is about how humans should live their lives. A bunch of robots could implement a set of moral rules, or make contracts, or maximise one another's benefits. The idea of a human community comes first.