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The essays in this collection explore the implications of Alasdair MacIntyre's critique of liberalism, capitalism, and the modern state, his early Marxism, and the complex influences of Marxist ideas on his thought. A central idea is that MacIntyre's political and social theory is a form of revolutionary—not reactionary—Aristotelianism. The contributors aim, in varying degrees, both to engage with the theoretical issues of MacIntyre's critique and to extend and deepen his insights.
The book features a new introductory essay by MacIntyre, "How Aristotelianism Can Become Revolutionary," and ends with an essay in which MacIntyre comments on the other authors' contributions. It also includes Kelvin Knight's 1996 essay, "Revolutionary Aristotelianism," which first challenged conservative appropriations of MacIntyre's critique of liberalism by reinterpreting his Aristotelianism through the lens of his earlier engagement with Marx.
Contributors: Paul Blackledge, Kelvin Knight, Alasdair MacIntyre, Tony Burns, Alex Callinicos, Sean Sayers, Niko Noponen, Émile Perreau-Saussine, Neil Davidson, Sante Maletta, Anton Leist, Peter McMylor, and Andrius Bielskis.
“This point leads to a final question: in what way (if at all) can we describe MacIntyre’s political thought as revolutionary? Virtue and Politics explores all these questions from a variety of perspectives. It also contains MacIntyre’s illuminating response to the volume’s essays, which helps us understand his own sense of these questions. It is difficult to give an adequate sense of the richness and diversity of the essays in this volume, which wrestle with all of these questions.” —The Thomist
Kelvin Knight is director of the Centre for Contemporary Aristotelian Studies in Ethics and Politics, London Metropolitan University. He is the author of Aristotelian Philosophy: Ethics and Politics from Aristotle to MacIntyre.