MacIntyre’s Mean: Overcoming a Nietzschean- Weberian Spectrum of Excess and Deficiency

Abstract

Alasdair MacIntyre’s work has developed from influences spanning different schools of thought. One particular thread can be traced between the works of Nietzsche and Weber demonstrating MacIntyre’s ability to respond to positions he opposes, as well as developing beyond their excesses and deficiencies. This work traces the Nietzschean origin to many of Weber’s positions. From here it tracks the parallels and divergences of Weber to MacIntyre, specifically comparing the ideas of vocations and practices, and the pedagogies of each. Concluding in a discussion of MacIntyre’s considerations of human flourishing, and how his overall position avoids the problematics of both Nietzsche’s and Weber’s over-individualism and relativism, the work argues for future engagement with other non-Thomist-Aristotelian influences on MacIntyre’s thought.

Keywords

• Practices
• Institutions
• Vocations
• Flourishing
• History of Thought
• Traditions