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Alasdair Macintyre, George Lindbeck and the Nature of Tradition

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Alasdair Macintyre, George Lindbeck and the Nature of Tradition Alasdair MacIntyre, George Lindbeck and the Nature of Tradition David Trenery BA, MA (Keele), MA (Loughborough). Thesis Submitted to the University of Nottingham for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, July 2014 Abstract This thesis considers the question of justification of belief in a comprehensive metaphysical system, through an exposition and evaluation of the philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre. It defines a comprehensive metaphysical system as a set of ontological and ethical presuppositions which are taken to encompass and explain the nature of the universe, and which provide a framework for human practical reasoning and action. The thesis argues that such a system is primarily a way of interpreting the world and the place of humanity within it, rather than a speculative theory. It considers the extent to which the notion of justification can be applied to such comprehensive systems, drawing on MacIntyre’s account of tradition- constituted rationality (TCR) and George Lindbeck’s account of religion as a cultural-linguistic system. It outlines the development of MacIntyre’s Aristotelian ethics and argues that the further development of that position in Dependent Rational Animals should be given a central role in the interpretation of his mature philosophy. The thesis illuminates the concept of TCR by applying Lindbeck’s rule theory of doctrine to the question of the identity of different traditions. The account of tradition that emerges from this exercise provides greater specificity to the concept of epistemological crisis, which is central to MacIntyre’s account of the superiority or inferiority of rival traditions. The account of superiority that emerges by linking MacIntyre and Lindbeck’s work provides a retrospective measure of the extent to which one tradition can be held to be (provisionally) justified or (absolutely) unjustified as a comprehensive metaphysical system, and provides a rebuttal to the claim that MacIntyre’s position is relativist. I argue that while Lindbeck’s original account of the nature of religion as a cultural-linguistic system is vulnerable to the charge of relativism, it can be strengthened against this claim by the incorporation of a notion of TCR derived from MacIntyre. i Acknowledgements My debts are too numerous to list in full, but I have to pay tribute to the support and dedication of my wife, Alison, and my son Sam, who have spent several years patiently waiting for me to complete this thesis. Without Alison’s eagle eyes the errors in the text would have been far more numerous. I am greatly indebted to my supervisor, Karen Kilby, who has provided excellent academic support and guidance, mixed with just the right amount of constructive challenge. I am also grateful to the rest of the Faculty and to the students of the Theology and Religious Studies Department at Nottingham University for the opportunities for discussion and learning they have provided over the years, which have been of great value to me as a part-time student whose engagement with academic debate has to be episodic. I am also indebted to the perceptive comments of my most long-standing friend, Bob Waring, who has continued the tradition of constructive criticism of my work that he first initiated when we met in primary school. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the memory of four people. Firstly, to the memory of my parents, John and Evelyn Trenery, who did not have the opportunity to pursue higher education for themselves, but made sure that their four children all benefitted from going to University. They ignited a desire for learning that has never left me. Secondly, this thesis is dedicated to my late brother Leslie who would have been proud of my efforts, and delighted to celebrate my successes, and sympathise with my setbacks. Thirdly, it is dedicated to the late Doctor James Logue, Fellow of Somerville College Oxford, with whom I shared many hours of philosophical debate, first when we were undergraduates, and later as he established his own philosophical reputation and career. They are all sorely missed. ii Contents Page Abstract i Acknowledgements and dedication ii Abbreviations Used in Text iv Chapter One: The Roots of After virtue 1 1.1 Overview 1 1.2 MacIntyre’s Early Philosophical Development 5 1.3 Marxism: an Interpretation 14 1.4 Myth and Justification: The logical status of religious belief 29 1.5 Marxism and Morality 43 1.6 Conceptual change, morality and religious belief 51 1.7 A Short History of Ethics 62 1.8 Implications 70 Chapter 2: MacIntyre’s Mature Position 74 2.1 Overview 74 2.2 Two Crises of Contemporary Thought 76 2.3 After Virtue 85 2.4 Dependent Rational Animals 112 2.5 Tradition, Rationality and Relativism 132 2.6 MacIntyre’s Relationship to the Enlightenment 154 Chapter 3: Lindbeck and the Identity of the Christian Tradition 176 3.1 Lindbeck, Ecumenism and Doctrine 176 3.2 The Nature of Doctrine 182 3.3 Religion as an Interpretative Medium 186 3.4 Doctrine, Rules and Identity 192 3.5 The Permanence of Belief 196 3.6 Some Limitations of Lindbeck’s model 202 3. 7 MacIntyre’s relevance to Lindbeck 207 Chapter 4: Lindbeck and MacIntyre as Complementary Thinkers 215 4.1 Introduction 215 4.2 Lindbeck, MacIntyre and the notion of a Hermeneutic Framework 216 4.3 Operative Doctrines and the Identity of a Tradition 229 4.4 Applying the Notion of a Hermeneutic Framework 239 4.5 Lindbeck on Inter-religious Superiority 251 4.6 Intratextuality and Superiority 263 4.7 Superiority and the rationality of a tradition 275 4.8 Overall Conclusions: MacIntyre, Lindbeck and Relativism 296 Bibliography 317 Word Count: 102,115 (Excluding Bibliography). iii Abbreviations used in Text ASI Alasdair MacIntyre: Against the Self-Images of the Age: Essays on Ideology and Philosophy. AV Alasdair MacIntyre: After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. CL Cultural-Linguistic. DCB Alasdair MacIntyre: Difficulties in Christian Belief. DRA Alasdair MacIntyre: Dependent Rational Animals Why Human Beings Need the Virtues. EC Epistemological Crisis. ECS Alasdair MacIntyre: “Epistemological crisis, dramatic narrative and the philosophy of science”. GB Alasdair MacIntyre: “An interview with Giovanna Borradori”. HF Hermeneutic framework. LS Alasdair MacIntyre: “The logical status of religious belief” in. MacIntyre Alasdair (ed.) Metaphysical Beliefs. MC Alasdair MacIntyre: Marxism and Christianity. MI Alasdair MacIntyre. Marxism: an Interpretation. ND George A. Lindbeck: The Nature of Doctrine Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age. NE Aristotle The Nichomachean Ethics. NMW MacIntyre, Alasdair C. “Notes from the moral wilderness 1 and 2”; reprinted in K. Knight The MacIntyre Reader pp.32-49. PEO Principle of epistemological openness. RSA Alasdair MacIntyre and Paul Ricoeur: The Religious Significance of Atheism. SHE MacIntyre Alasdair C.: A Short History of Ethics. SMC MacIntyre Alasdair C.: Secularization and Moral Change. TRV MacIntyre Alasdair C: Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry. WJWR MacIntyre, Alasdair: Whose Justice? Which Rationality? iv Chapter 1 The Roots of After Virtue 1.1 Overview This thesis considers how one might justify belief in a comprehensive metaphysical system, through an exposition and evaluation of the philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre. What is meant by the phrase “a comprehensive metaphysical system” will become clearer as the thesis unfolds, but I will define it initially as a set of ontological and ethical presuppositions which are taken to encompass and explain the nature of the universe of which our species is a part, and which also provide a framework for human practical reasoning and action. On the basis of this definition secular philosophies such as Marxism and religions such as Christianity are comprehensive metaphysical systems. A comprehensive “theory of everything”, such as modern physics has tried to develop, would not be such a metaphysical system, unless it sought to encompass ethics and an understanding of humanity within its framework, as well as providing an account of ontology. I need to qualify my description of Christianity and Marxism as metaphysical systems. This is not an attempt to characterise all aspects of their identity in a reductive fashion. It is, however, a way of pointing to some common features of these belief systems, which constitute them as “hermeneutic frameworks”: that is, all-encompassing ways of understanding the universe, humanity and human action (see Section 4.3). A comprehensive metaphysical system as defined above is, I shall argue, primarily a way of interpreting the world and our place within it, rather than a speculative theory. Whether it is legitimate to speak of the justification of such a hermeneutic framework remains part of the question I am exploring. The decline of Enlightenment epistemological foundationalism undermined notions of 1 universal standards of argument and legitimacy, and emphasised the importance of the role of authority and faith in underpinning commitment to such comprehensive metaphysical systems. My exploration of MacIntyre’s philosophy, and my use of the work of the theologian George Lindbeck in the latter part of this thesis, is intended to deepen the understanding of the issues associated with the question of justification and commitment in a postmodern philosophical and theological context.1 My reasons for exploring these issues are personal as well as intellectual. Like MacIntyre I am a child of the intellectual and moral culture of the mid-20th Century. My education emphasised the importance of intellectual rigour and objective justification as a pre-condition of belief, and rejected tradition as a foundation for rational investigation and knowledge. This education emphasised that the foundations of morality are indeterminable and encouraged tolerance of diversity and (less happily) moral relativism. It left me agnostic with respect to religion and the foundations of ethics, but it also left me with no choice but to act at a personal, community and political level, even though the principles that guided my actions appeared to be arbitrarily adopted.
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