Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. Defining a Philosophical Stance: 1. Epistemological crises, dramatic narrative and the philosophy of science; 2. Colors, cultures, and practices; 3. Moral relativism, truth and justification; 4. Hegel on faces and skulls; 5. What is a human body?; 6. Moral philosophy and contemporary social practice: what holds them apart?; Part II. The Ends of Philosophical Enquiry: 7. The ends of life, the ends of philosophical writing; 8. First principles, final ends and contemporary philosophical issues; 9. Philosophy recalled to its tasks: a Thomistic reading of Fides et Ratio; 10. Truth as a good: a reflection on Fides et Ratio.

Promotional Information

In this volume, first published in 2006, Alasdair MacIntyre examines some fundamental philosophical questions in this first of two volumes of selected essays.

About the Author

Alasdair MacIntyre is Senior Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. His publications include After Virtue (1981), Dependent Rational Animals (1999) and numerous journal articles.

Reviews

"In a career spanning over half a century, Alasdair MacIntyre has earned a prominent place among the most influential philosophers in recent times...These collections of essays meet the objective that MacIntyre sets as the goal of philosophical enquiry: they send the reader back into the world, invigorated and eager to revisit the questions regarding the ends of life." The University Bookman