Alasdair MacIntyre: An Intellectual Biography

Perreau-Saussine (Catholicism and Democracy), who lectured in politics and international studies at the University of Cambridge and published this title in France in 2005 before his death in 2010, provides a penetrating overview of the ideas of 20th-century moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre. Perreau-Saussine focuses on how MacIntyre’s critiques of liberalism developed and summarizes the key insight of MacIntyre’s philosophy: “Limited to his own strength, the individual is not always able to find the good and the true to which he aspires.” As a young man, MacIntyre professed leftist political engagements that ended in disillusionment after the decline of Stalinism, causing the philosopher to disavow politics and “root freedom in natural law and faith.” Perreau-Saussine traces how Marxist antipathy toward liberal individualism continued to influence MacIntyre’s thinking, leading the philosopher to write extensively on how liberalism’s emphasis on personal freedoms leads to a dangerous moral relativism. MacIntyre converted to Catholicism in 1983, a decision that Perreau-Saussine attributes to the philosopher’s increasing interest in tradition and its ability to foster reason and a positive sense of justice. Perreau-Saussine proves a talented historian of ideas, cogently elucidating how such diverse traditions as Marxism, Catholicism, and Aristotelianism come together in MacIntyre’s writings. Political and moral philosophy scholars will want to check this out. (Sept.)