17 - Alasdair MacIntyre on political thinking and the tasks of politics

Summary

To summarize Alasdair MacIntyre's contributions to political thought in a few words is something easier agreed to than done. For the most part his contributions to political thought are embedded in more general ethical discussions, found in a series of books and papers spanning six decades, and already the object of a considerable secondary literature. The aims of this chapter must then be modest: to trace briefly the evolution of MacIntyre's political thinking, to outline the position that he has held since the late 1980s, and to offer a brief evaluation of his contribution to political thinking in our time.

MacIntyre's first book was Marxism: An Interpretation. When he wrote this book MacIntyre thought of himself as both a Marxist and a Christian, or at least as someone trying to be both a Marxist and a Christian. In it he tried to argue for the compatibility of Marxism and Christianity, or at least for a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between them than was customary at the time. By 1968, when he published a revised version under the title Marxism and Christianity, he had ceased to be either a Marxist or a Christian. Although the ins and outs of MacIntyre's long engagement with Marxism will not detain us here, two texts are especially important for understanding his current position.