Alasdair MacIntyre
Scottish-American philosopher (1929–2025)
Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre (12 January 1929 – 21 May 2025) was a Scottish-American philosopher who contributed to moral and political philosophy as well as history of philosophy and theology. MacIntyre's After Virtue (1981) is one of the most important works of Anglophone moral and political philosophy in the 20th century. He was a senior research fellow at the Centre for Contemporary Aristotelian Studies in Ethics and Politics (CASEP) at London Metropolitan University, emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and permanent senior distinguished research fellow at the Notre Dame de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. During his lengthy academic career, he also taught at Brandeis University, Duke University, Vanderbilt University, and Boston University.
Biography
Early life and education
Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre was born on 12 January 1929 in Glasgow, to Eneas and Greta (Chalmers) MacIntyre. He was educated at Queen Mary College, London, and had a Master of Arts degree from the University of Manchester, where his philosophy teacher was Dorothy Emmet and his fellow student was Herbert McCabe and from the University of Oxford.
Professorship
He began his teaching career in 1951 at Manchester. He taught at the University of Leeds, the University of Essex and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, before moving to the US in around 1969. MacIntyre was something of an intellectual nomad, having taught at many universities in the US. He had held the following positions:
Professor of History of Ideas, Brandeis University (1969 or 1970),
Dean of the College of Arts and professor of philosophy, Boston University (1972),
Henry Luce Professor, Wellesley College (1980),
W. Alton Jones Professor, Vanderbilt University (1982),
Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame (1985),
Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University (1985),
Visiting scholar, Whitney Humanities Center, Yale University (1988),
McMahon-Hank Professor of Philosophy, Notre Dame (1989), and
Arts & Sciences Professor of Philosophy, Duke University (1995–2000).
He had also been a visiting professor at Princeton University and was president of the American Philosophical Association.
The public source identifies “Alasdair MacIntyre” as scottish-American philosopher (1929–2025). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Alasdair, MacIntyre and Scottish-American.
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