Disputes about MacIntyre: Ethics and Political Philosophy (Review on: Gregson J. Marxism, Ethics and Politics: The Work of Alasdair MacIntyre. Cham, Switzerland: Springer; Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. 234 p.)

Abstract

The review of the book by John Gregson, devoted to the early stage of the formation of the moral philosophy of Alasder MacIntyre — one of the most eminent thinkers and moralists of our time — explores not only the specific aspects of the author’s analysis, but also attempts to identify the interpretation of ethical and political-philosophical thought of the second half of the twentieth century, characteristic of the modern British and European traditions of social analysis. The motives and events connected with the introduction of MacIntyre to the Marxist tradition and the “new left”, the reasons and the very process of the philosopher’s break with modern Marxism and communist politics are consistently discussed. According to the reviewer, the British scientist was completely able to answer the important question of what purpose it is today to explore precisely the early period of MacIntyre, which the philosopher himself characterizes in his later period in an extremely critical manner. An equally important aspect of the book under review is the analysis of the problem of the genesis of the Marx’s philosophical and ethical concept and its deep connection with the Aristotle’s ethics and the interpretations of the ancient Greek ethical tradition in the philosophy of the Middle Ages (Thomas Aquinas) and the era of European modernity (Hegel, Feuerbach).