Cfp: "MacIntyre as Critic and Educator," 5th Annual Conference, International Society for MacIntyrean Philosophy, Providence College, July 28-31, 2011.

In classical antiquity, the pursuit of truth was seen as more than an academic exercise. It was a search for, and choosing of, a way of life. Alasdair MacIntyre’s thought has been portrayed as an attempt to recover for the contemporary world the wisdom of ancient and medieval philosophy and to provide, using Marx, St. Thomas and others, a thorough critique of the problems of modernity. The goal of this conference is to explore the ways in which Alasdair MacIntyre’s philosophy contributes to criticism that can engender new approaches to living and to education broadly understood.

Papers and panels related to the conference theme are welcome. Possible topics may include:

· Is MacIntyre’s philosophy sufficient of itself to offer us a “way” of living?
· Is it (only?) a way of enquiring?
· Is it a way of teaching?
· Is there such a thing as a MacIntyrean? What does this term mean when it is associated with a philosopher? An economist? A theologian? A political theorist? An educator?
· Can there be such a thing as a MacIntyrean curriculum?
· Is there a canon and if so, what is MacIntyre’s place in it?
· How has MacIntyre’s thought changed the way we approach the social sciences?
· What does MacIntyre’s critique of modernity reveal for the way we must live in the contemporary world?
· What does his critique reveal about the way we do philosophy? The social sciences?
· What is critical education? What role do educators have to the general public? What is MacIntyre's relationship to Dewey or Friere?
· What is Catholic Social Teaching? Can we teach social justice?
· What is the relationship between education and critical social action? Should educators join with social groups like labor unions?
· What does it mean to be a public intellectual?

For further information, visit: http://www.macintyreanenquiry.org/Providence/Providence.html.

"Virtue and Economic Crises," Mykolas Romeris University, July 29-August 1, 2010.

Fourth Annual Conference, International Society for MacIntyrean Philosophy. Keynote Speakers: Bob Brecher (Center for Research and Development, University of Brighton) Zenonas Norkus (Department of Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Vilnius) John O’Neill (School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester) Clemens K. Stepina (Institute for Theatre, Film and Media Sciences, University of Vienna) Alasdair MacIntyre once argued that Karl Marx left philosophy and turned to political economy at a time when his philosophical enquiry was still incomplete. From After Virtue to Dependent Rational Animals Alasdair MacIntyre’s work has laid a solid philosophical foundation for building an understanding of the nature of human rationality, virtue and practice. One aim of this conference is to use MacIntyre’s work in thinking through some of the challenges and problems we face today: the crumbling neo-liberal economic order, equitable economic development, the role of virtue in the practices of production, and the lack of democracy in the dominant economic institutions of production.Further, this conference aims to encourage interdisciplinary research into the field of ethics, philosophy, political economy, social theory and theology in order to think through the moral as well as political aspects of the future of economic development. Its underlying presupposition rests in our belief that the orthodox neoclassical economic theory – the rational individual consumer aiming to maximize his/her preferences at any cost – has to be theoretically challenged. A robust Aristotelian social theory and moral philosophy can contribute in rethinking some of these presuppositions and beliefs. Possible Topics: 1. The importance of moral and intellectual virtues for equitable economic development. 2. What are the moral and philosophical presuppositions behind the neoclassical economic thought and behind the existing socio-economic order of market capitalism? 3. What can economic theory learn from moral philosophy and virtue ethics? 4. What is the role of business ethics in times of economic crises? Please submit proposals, including title and abstract, of no more than 350 words to: Dr. Andrius Bielskis, Department of Politics, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania, e-mail: andrius.bielskis@mruni.eu. Conference website: http://www.macintyreanenquiry.org/Vilnius2010/Vilnius2010.html.

Cfp: "MacIntyre at 80: What Happened in and to Moral Philosophy in the Twentieth Century?," School of Philosophy, UC Dublin, March 6-8, 2009.

Update: Terry Eagleton will give the UCD Philosophy Society's inaugural lecture on Wed 4 March at 7 pm, entitled "The Irish Sublime". The following papers will be presented:

• Alasdair MacIntyre, “On Having Survived the Moral Philosophy of the Twentieth Century”
• Kelvin Knight, “MacIntyre’s Revisionary Aristotelianism”
• Owen Flanagan, “What do the Human Sciences have to do with Ethics?”
• Raymond Geuss, “Marxism and the Ethos of the Twentieth Century”
• Richard Kearney: “Forgiveness: Possible or Impossible? - Arendt, Derrida, Ricoeur, Jankelevitch”
• Stephen Mulhall, “Naturalism, Nihilism and Perfectionism: Stevenson, Williams and Nietzche in 20th Century Moral Philosophy”
• Jonathan Rée, “The Fetishism of Morality”
• James McEvoy, “Parallel projects: Alasdair MacIntyre's Virtue Ethics, Thomistic Moral Theology (Servais Pinckaers OP) and thirteenth-century Pastoral Theology (Leonard Boyle OP)”
• Adam Chmielewski, TBA
• Arthur Madigan, “Alasdair MacIntyre, Thomistic Aristotelianism, and Revolutionary Aristotelianism.”
• David Solomon, “MacIntyre and the Applied Ethics Revolution”
• Joseph Dunne, "Strong Demands: What Sources?"
• Michael Sherwin, “Rediscovering Aquinas’ Augustianism: An interpretation of Some twentieth century Dominican Theologians.”
• Steven Long, “The Perfect Storm: On the Loss of Natural Teleology as a Normative Theonomic Principle in 20th Century Moral Philosophy”
• Elijah Milgram, “Relativism, Coherence, and the Problems of Philosophy”
• Hans Fink, “Against the Self Images of the Age. MacIntyre and Løgstrup”

Original Post (November 30, 2008): Alasdair MacIntyre will deliver an autobiographical paper entitled "On Having Survived the Moral Philosophies of the Twentieth Century." Speakers include: Raymond Geuss, Richard Kearney, Elijah Milgram, Stephen Mulhall, Jonathan Rée. Panel Sessions:

• Philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre: Adam Chmielewski, Joseph Dunne, Owen Flanagan, Kelvin Knight, Arthur Madigan, David Solomon;
• Aquinas' Moral Philosophy: Steven Long, James McEvoy, Michael Sherwin .

Visit the conference page here: http://www.ucd.ie/philosophy/macintyre/index.html.

Going Back to the Roots: Plain Persons asking Questions about the Human Good and the Nature of Things, School of Philosophy, UC Dublin, March 9, 2009.

The third Annual Conference of the International Society for MacIntyrean Enquiry will take place in Dublin to coincide with a major international conference to mark the 80th birthday of Alasdair MacIntyre (See http://www.ucd.ie/philosophy/macintyre/index.html). We invite papers that engage critically with themes in MacIntyre’s work. Proposals for papers engaging with other thinkers in MacIntyre’s tradition (e.g. Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Karl Marx, and Edith Stein) are also welcome. The registration fee is 25 euros. Applicants are invited to submit a paper proposal in Word or PDF format, including paper title and an abstract of between 150 and 250 words to: s.r.macgiollarnath@reading.ac.uk The deadline for proposing a paper is 1st January, 2009. Confirmation with respect to acceptance will be delivered by 12th January. Written papers in Word or PDF format must be submitted via email only, no later than 15th February. Papers will be forwarded to all registered participants. The presentation of each paper is limited to 20 minutes, and will be followed by a discussion based on the assumption that participants have read the papers. Visit the conference homepage here: http://macintyreanenquiry.org/2009cfp.htm.

Hauerwas, Stanley. "The Virtues of Alasdair MacIntyre." FIRST THINGS (October 2007).

Born in Scotland in 1929, MacIntyre began teaching at Manchester University in 1951. He came to the United States in 1969 to teach at Brandeis University, and he has held in the years since a large number of academic appointments, including stints at Boston University, Wellesley, Vanderbilt, Yale, Duke, and Notre Dame. His books began with Marxism: An Interpretation in 1953 and have continued in a steady flow, including The Unconscious: A Conceptual Analysis in 1958, A Short History of Ethics in 1966, Herbert Marcuse: An Exposition and a Polemic in 1970, After Virtue in 1981, Whose Justice? Which Rationality? in 1988, Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry in 1990, and Edith Stein in 2005. After Virtue remains MacIntyre’s most widely discussed book, and a third edition has just been published in celebration of its twenty-fifth anniversary. We are also fortunate to have two recent volumes of his selected articles published by Cambridge University Press: The Tasks of Philosophy and Ethics and Politics. These essays are crucial for any assessment of MacIntyre’s position: Arguments and observations he makes in his books were often first developed in articles, and defended later in other articles, not widely available. The constructive character of MacIntyre’s work is apparent in his understanding of the philosophical task. A philosopher, he insists, should try to express the concepts embedded in the practices of our lives in order to help us live morally worthy lives. The professionalization of philosophy into a technical field—what might be called the academic captivity of philosophy—reflects (and serves to legitimate) the compartmentalization of the advanced capitalistic social orders that produce our culture of experts, those strange creatures of authority in modernity. General dismissals of MacIntyre too often rest on a fundamental failure to understand the interconnected character of his work. His criticisms of modernity are often thought to reflect a nostalgic and unjustified preference for the Middle Ages. MacIntyre sometimes cannot resist wickedly confirming his critics’ prejudices about his work, but those who refuse to take MacIntyre seriously because they think him antimodern fail to understand the fundamental philosophical arguments that shape his position. A focus on his accounts of action and practical reason reveals that his fundamental perspective has been remarkably consistent. . . . Read the whole article here: http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6041.

CFP: "Theory, Practice, and Tradition: Human Rationality in Pursuit of the Good Life," Society for MacIntyrean Philosophy, July 30-August 3, 2008.

The International Society for MacIntyrean Philosophy invites submissions focusing on Alasdair MacIntyre’s accounts of theory, practice, and tradition as a foundation for ethical and political work. Diverse philosophical approaches and methodologies are welcome and the theme can be broadly interpreted. Papers should not exceed 30 minutes reading time. Select papers may be published in a special journal for the International Society for MacIntyrean Philosophy. The International Society for MacIntyrean Philosophy was founded by the participants of “MacIntyre’s Revolutionary Aristotelianism: Ethics, Resistance and Utopia,” a conference organized by Kelvin Knight, held at London Metropolitan University in June 2007. The society includes professional philosophers from different traditions, experts in political theory, the social sciences, the humanities and education, as well as members of non-philosophical communities and practices, and others interested in the relevance of their commitments and professions. Please submit a 100 word abstract no later than January 10, 2008 by email. Plenary Speakers Include:

• Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University
• Ronald Beiner, University of Toronto

Other speakers include:

• Kelvin Knight, editor of The MacIntyre Reader (1998) and author of Aristotelian Philosophy: Ethics and Politics from Aristotle to MacIntyre (2007);
• Paul Blackledge, co-editor of Alasdair MacIntyre's Engagement with Marxism: Essays and Articles, 1953-1974 (forthcoming 2008);
• David Lorenzo, author of Comunitarismo contra individualismo: una revisión de los valores de Occidente desde el pensamiento de A. MacIntyre (2007);
• Andrius Bielskis, author of Towards a Post-Modern Understanding of the Political (2005);
• Christopher Stephen Lutz, author of Tradition in the Ethics of Alasdair MacIntyre (2004);
• Marco D’Avenia, translator of Italian edition of Alasdair MacIntyre, Edith Stein: A Philosophical Prologue (forthcoming);
• Peter McMylor, author of Alasdair MacIntyre: Critic of Modernity (1994).

Suggested topics include:

• What is the good life? Can we still talk about the good life?
• Is practical rationality necessarily moral? Is moral reasoning necessarily practical?
• What is a practice? Can practices be normative? Must practices be teleological?
• What is a tradition? Are traditions rational? Are traditions normative?
• How do theories and practices form traditions? How do traditions bear theories and practices?
• What are some sources of conflicts within and between traditions?
• Must the good life be religious? Can the religious lead a good life?
• Is any kind of metaphysical biology necessary or possible today?
• Is universal human nature a philosophical discovery or an oppressive ideological imposition?

Conference Dates: July 30 through August 3, 2008; Location: Saint Meinrad School of Theology, St. Meinrad, Indiana, USA; Website: http://macintyreanphilosophy.googlepages.com/home.