Alasdair Macintyre's Revolutionary
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THE GENERAL JONAS ZEMAITIS MILITARY ACADEMY OF LITHUANIA KAUNAS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY KLAIPĖDA UNIVERSITY VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY Egidijus MARDOSAS ALASDAIR MACINTYRE’S REVOLUTIONARY ARISTOTELIANISM: POLITICS OF EMANCIPATION, COMMUNITY AND THE GOOD Doctoral Dissertation Area of Social sciences, field of Political sciences (02S) Kaunas, 2017 UDK 32.01 Ma-427 This doctoral dissertation was prepared during the period of 2012-2016 at Vytautas Magnus University in accordance with the doctoral study right granted to the General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, Kaunas University of Technology, Klaipėda University and Vytautas Magnus University on 8th June 2011 by Order No V-1019 of the Minister of Education and Science. Scientific supervisor: prof. dr. Andrius Bielskis (Vytautas Magnus University, area of social sciences, field of political sciences, 02S) ISBN 978-609-467-272-9 2 GENEROLO JONO ŽEMAIČIO LIETUVOS KARO AKADEMIJA KAUNO TECHNOLOGIJOS UNIVERSITETAS KLAIPĖDOS UNIVERSITETAS VYTAUTO DIDŽIOJO UNIVERSITETAS Egidijus MARDOSAS ALASDAIRO MACINTYRE’O REVOLIUCINIS ARISTOTELIZMAS: EMANCIPACINĖ POLITIKA, BENDRUOMENĖ, GĖRIS Mokslo daktaro disertacija Socialiniai mokslai, politikos mokslai (02S) Kaunas, 2017 3 Mokslo daktaro disertacija rengta 2012–2016 metais Vytauto Didžiojo universitete pagal Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademijai, Kauno technologijos universitetui, Klaipėdos universitetui ir Vytauto Didžiojo universitetui Lietuvos Respublikos švietimo ir mokslo ministro 2011 m. birželio 8 d. įsakymu Nr. V-1019 suteiktą doktorantūros teisę. Mokslinis vadovas: prof. dr. Andrius Bielskis (Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas, socialiniai mokslai, politikos mokslai, 02S) 4 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 6 Research problem and its relevance .......................................................................................... 6 Object of the dissertation ........................................................................................................... 8 Survey of principal literature and previous research ................................................................. 9 Originality of the research ....................................................................................................... 12 Aims and objectives of the dissertation ................................................................................... 12 Methods of research ................................................................................................................ 13 Main theses .............................................................................................................................. 14 Structure of the dissertation ..................................................................................................... 15 1. ALASDAIR MACINTYRE’S SOCIAL TELEOLOGY ........................................................ 17 1.1. Moral agency and modernity ............................................................................................ 17 1.2. Practices, institutions and virtues ..................................................................................... 24 1.3. Narratives and traditions ................................................................................................... 28 1.4. Moral agency and social structures .................................................................................. 34 2. POLITICAL PROJECT OF THE GOODS OF EXCELLENCE ............................................ 40 2.1. Aristotle’s ethico-political project .................................................................................... 40 2.2. MacIntyre’s interpretation of Aristotle’s political thought .............................................. 49 2.2. Aristotle and Aquinas ....................................................................................................... 54 3. MARXISM AND ARISTOTELIANISM ............................................................................... 62 3.1 MacIntyre’s neo-Aristotelianism and Marx’s Capital ...................................................... 62 3.2. Ethical foundations of Marxism: species-being and alienation ........................................ 69 3.3. Species-being and alienation re-interpreted through the category of practice ................. 77 3.4. The ideal of the polis in Marx’s political thought ............................................................ 82 4. FROM REVOLUTION TO LOCAL RESISTANCES........................................................... 87 4.1. Freedom, desire and revolution ........................................................................................ 87 4.2. Breaking with Marxist politics ......................................................................................... 94 4.3. “The New Dark Ages” .................................................................................................... 100 5. COMMUNITY, COMMON GOOD AND UTOPIA ........................................................... 109 5.1. Politics of shared deliberation ........................................................................................ 109 5.2. Community and the state ................................................................................................ 116 5.3. Community and capital ................................................................................................... 121 5.4. Utopia ............................................................................................................................. 126 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................... 132 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 135 5 INTRODUCTION Research problem and its relevance Over the last four decades, Alasdair MacIntyre has developed a distinctive neo- Aristotelian philosophy. It received its first formulation in After Virtue (published in 1981) and was further expanded and advanced through Whose Justice? Which Rationality? (1988), Three Rival Versions of Moral Inquiry (1990), Dependent Rational Animals (1999), and in multiple papers until its most recent restatement in Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity (2016). MacIntyre’s works have made a positive contribution to various areas of theoretical enquiry, including moral philosophy, political theory, social science, theology, and phenomenology, among others. MacIntyre’s Aristotelian works, although mostly presented as writing on moral philosophy, are also highly significant from the perspective of political theory. MacIntyre’s interest in politics has never been merely theoretical: he himself had been a prominent contributor to Marxist politics as a philosopher and as a member of various political organisations before he gradually distanced himself from Marxism and eventually embraced what he presented as the neo-Aristotelian approach. Political dimension is clearly present in many of MacIntyre’s post-After Virtue works. This allows us to talk about a specifically neo- Aristotelian political theory. Neo-Aristotelianism has undoubtedly established itself as a distinct approach to politics. It is thus necessary to analyse its most important contributions to contemporary political theory as well as to trace the internal development of the neo-Aristotelian theory. As any other theoretical enterprise, it has also undergone important corrections and redefinitions. We therefore need to put these developments into perspective as compared to the current positions of neo-Aristotelianism and to ask questions about possible trajectories for further development. The political aspects of MacIntyre’s neo-Aristotelian works have received growing attention from scholars. As the overview of literature on the topic, presented below, shows, various readings of neo-Aristotelian theory provide contradictory and often mutually exclusive interpretations. MacIntyre himself continuously engages in debates with his commentators and critics, which is why it is increasingly important to evaluate neo-Aristotelian political theory in light of these continuous debates. This dissertation provides a comprehensive reconstruction and interpretation of neo-Aristotelian political theory as developed by MacIntyre after his break with Marxism. 6 There is also practical relevance to research into the neo-Aristotelian political thought. Contemporary societies experience escalating political conflicts and crises. There is therefore growing urgency to ask questions like: What is the best approach to understanding current conflicts and the nature of political institutions? What normative grounds should underpin our political institutions? What form should progressive politics take? As any other political theory, neo-Aristotelianism proposes its own answers to these and similar questions. Briefly put, what is specific about MacIntyre’s arguments is that he draws a close connection between moral and political enquiries and (re)introduces the notion of the good into political theory. John Rawls has characterised a strand of contemporary liberalism with the formula that the right has priority over the good. MacIntyre’s answer is a political theory that is, on the contrary, grounded in the notion of the good. Neo-Aristotelian political theory is distinct not only from liberalism, but