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Title: Short History of Ethics by Alasdair MacIntyre ISBN: 0-684-82677-1 Publisher: Scribner Book Company Pub. Date: 01 April, 1966 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3.83 (6 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Indispensible Classic For Students of Moral Philosophy
Comment: MacIntyre's now classic history of moral theory was written in the highly individualistic years of the mid-late sixties. Today, MacIntyre is regarded as one of the world's most significant moral philosophers, but when he wrote this book, few outside of the discipline had ever heard of him. No doubt, the book reflects MacIntyre's strong opinions, but they are well-considered, deeply thought, and generally well-argued. Further, the nature of the project keeps MacIntyre in the mainstream of his subject, and the book provides an extremely comprehensive and relatively concise (270 pages) survey of the peaks in the development of western moral theory (which, despite the many claims of post-modern pundits, is still at the heart of the philosophic project as a whole). A number of MacIntyre's arguments show a fascinating and appropriate application of Wittgenstein's ideas, which, at the time of this writing, still basked in the glow of the apotheosis they had undergone in the 1950's.

MacIntyre is strong on the Greeks. His sections on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and the development of Greek moral thought fill the first 100 pages. Socrates' basic teachings are examined, and while MacIntyre is a bit too materialistic to really "get" Plato, he details the main strokes well, in a fairly thorough discussion of The Republic. His examination of Aristotle's moral theory is enlightening, one of the best available in brief.
The middle of the book deftly deals with the impact of Christian moral thought (see Max Weber for more), the development of early modernity (good on Hobbes; interesting on Spinoza), further developments in 18th century France and Britain (if you've ever wanted to know how the ideas of Locke, Mandeville, Shaftesbury, Hutchinson, Bishop Butler, Paley, Price, Reed, and Hume, et al. fit together in less than ten pages, look no further). Hume is discussed more deeply in other books of this sort (see Norman "The Moral Philosophers"). The discussion is followed by excellent summaries of Montesquieu and Rousseau. (For some reason Montaigne is ignored along with the rest of late 16th and early 17th century French thought).
Then comes what, in my opinion, is the gem of the book, his analysis of Kant. The final claim in the chapter, that the arbitrary nature ("the logical emptiness") of Kant's categorical imperative ironically did far more than any other philosophic claims to prepare the German psyche to rationalize the acceptance of totalitarian National Socialism, albeit controversial, deserves careful perusal.
The final third of the book includes informative sections on Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche (R. Soloman and K. Higgins are better in the brief style format on Nietzsche), Utilitarianism (R. Norman is stronger on Mill, but MacIntyre is sfficient) and ends about halfway through the 20th century, mostly discussing developments in British moral philosophy (Moore, et al). There's a few pages on Sarte (not nearly enough), Dewey, and less known figures such as Stevenson. All in all, better buy a seperate book which deals with this turbulant century all by itself. MacIntyre, however, provides enough of an intro.
The book is excellent in showing the interrelation and development of the most stimulating ideas which have arisen in Europe over two-and a-half thousand years in regard to how we ought to live, how we do, and the whys and wherefores of most of what matters most in philosophy.

Rating: 5
Summary: Fascinating and difficult
Comment: Yes this book is difficult for a non-philosopher like myself. I found the initial chapter on Homeric values very interesting, but then got stranded when he discusses Plato: he assumes indirectly that the reader is familiar with the Gorgias and the Republic. So I didn't give up, and laid the book to the side for one year, and did a slow reading of both of those dialogues on an internet reading group. I then picked up the Short History, and continued: his account of Aristotle is crystal clear. Somewhat excessive detail on recent English philosophy perhaps. My next step, that I'm busy with now, is "After Virtue", much easier to read after having tackled his Short History, and that book is even more riveting and revolutionary.

Rating: 5
Summary: Great for those with adequate background
Comment: This is a reissue of a 1964 work. MacIntyre provides a new introduction that critically reviews what he sees as the strength and weaknesses of the book. The book itself, however, is unchanged from the 1964 text.

Beginners will find this a difficult book to work through. MacIntyre presumes the reader has a basic understanding of the ideas and philosophers he discusses.

But for those with adequate background this is a wonderful book, full of many insights. Be warned, though, this book is not a neutral review of the subject matter. In this book MacIntyre lays the groundwork for his own particular version of ethics (developed most fully in After Virtue).

Much of the book is dense and part of it is, arguably, poorly written. But it is worth the work needed to get through it.

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