Notwithstanding His Rhetoric, A Liberal? Cover Image

Navzdory své rétorice liberál?
Notwithstanding His Rhetoric, A Liberal?

On MacIntyre’s Politics of the Common Good

Author(s): Ján Tomaštík, Jiří Baroš
Subject(s): Philosophy, Theology and Religion
Published by: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
Keywords: Common Action; Common Good; Liberalism; Modern State; Political Theory; Practical Rationality; Thomism;

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to present and criticise the political thought of Alasdair MacIntyre, one of the most renowned contemporary moral philosophers. This eminent representative of the Aristotelian Thomistic tradition is a strong opponent of the modern state, which he does not consider to be an appropriate place for his favoured politics of the common good. He proposes the politics of local communities as his alternative. The article criticises his alternative by focusing on the premises of his understanding of the concept of the common good. In several steps, there is an attempt to demonstrate how his conceptualisation is not completely faithful to his own Aristotelian Thomistic tradition. Moreover, his politics of local communities remains deeply vulnerable to the liberal politics of the modern state. As a matter of fact, despite his scorching criticism of liberalism, MacIntyrean politics is in its consequences paradoxically liberal.

  • Issue Year: XXIV/2022
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 103-127
  • Page Count: 25
  • Language: Czech