Abstract
Alasdair MacIntyre has been a significant figure within moral, social and political philosophy for seven decades, growing in prominence since the publication of After Virtue (1981). Twenty five years earlier he published an article ‘The Modern Universities and the English Tradition’ (1956). As subsequent decades have revealed, the philosophy of education, especially of higher education, practised not as a sub-disciplinary specialism, but as an aspect of broader enquiries, has been an important means by which MacIntyre has given expression to, illustrated, and set tests for his central ideas about ethics, society and politics. His developed view is that education can only really take place in the context of a view of its various parts corresponding to an integrationist view of reality itself: education properly speaking is the expression of a philosophy, and that being so it had better be a coherent one.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Anscombe, G.E.M. 1958. Modern Moral Philosophy. Philosophy 33 (124), 1–19. Reprinted in M. Geach & L. Gormally, Eds). (2005). Human Life, Action and Ethics: Essays by G.E.M. Anscombe. (Exeter: Imprint Academic).
- 2.
‘MacIntyre on Education: in Conversation with J. Dunne’ (2002) is also useful as an informal summary and application of his views.
- 3.
The first Scottish Parliamentary Education Act is that of 1496 requiring barons and freeholders (land owners) to send their eldest sons to school, and in 1560 John Knox initiated a programme for a school in every parish.
- 4.
‘De Magistro’ is a title given by a later editor to Question 11, articles 1–4 of Aquinas’s Disputed Questions on Truth written c. 1256.
References
Anscombe, G.E.M. (1958). Modern Moral Philosophy. Philosophy 33 (124), 1–19. Reprinted in M. Geach & L. Gormally, Eds). (2005). Human Life, Action and Ethics: Essays by G.E.M. Anscombe. (Exeter: Imprint Academic).
Dunne, J. and MacIntyre, A. (2002). Alasdair MacIntyre on Education: In dialogue with Joseph Dunne. Journal of Philosophy of Education 36 (1), 1–19.
Flew, A. and MacIntyre, A. (1955). New Essays in Philosophical Theology. (New York: Macmillan).
MacIntyre, A. (1953). Marxism: An interpretation. (London: SCM Press)
MacIntyre, A. (1956). Manchester: The Modern Universities and the English Tradition Twentieth Century, 159. February 1956.
MacIntyre, A. (1964). Against Utilitarianism. (In T. H. B. Hollins, (Ed.). Aims in Education: The philosophic approach. (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
MacIntyre, A. (1981). After Virtue: A study in moral theory. (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press).
MacIntyre, A. (1985). The Idea of an Educated Public. (In G. Haydon (Ed).Education and Values: The Richard Peters lectures. (London: University of London, Institute of Education).
MacIntyre, A. (1988). Whose Justice? Which Rationality? (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press)
MacIntyre, A. (1990). Three Rival Versions of Moral Inquiry: Encyclopaedia, genealogy and tradition. (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press)
MacIntyre, A. (1999). Dependent Rational Animals: Why human beings need the virtues. (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press)
MacIntyre, A. (2007). The End of Education: The fragmentation of the American university. Commonweal Foundation. March 20th 2007.
MacIntyre, A. (2009). The Very Idea of a University: Aristotle, Newman and us. British Journal of Educational Studies 57 (4), 347–362.
MacIntyre, A. (2009). God, Philosophy, Universities. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield).
MacIntyre, A. (2016). Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity: An essay on desire, practical reasoning, and narrative. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Haldane, J. (2020). Alasdair MacIntyre (1929–): Philosophy and the University. In: Barnett, R., Fulford, A. (eds) Philosophers on the University. Debating Higher Education: Philosophical Perspectives, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31061-5_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31061-5_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31060-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31061-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)