Virtue and Meaning: A Neo-Aristotelian Perspective

The revival of Aristotelian virtue ethics can be seen as a response to the modern problem of disenchantment, that is, the perceived loss of meaning in modernity. However, in Virtue and Meaning, David McPherson contends that the dominant approach still embraces an overly disenchanted view. In a wide-ranging discussion, McPherson argues for a more fully re-enchanted perspective that gives better recognition to the meanings by which we live and after which we seek, and to the fact that human beings are the meaning-seeking animal. In doing so, he defends distinctive accounts of the relationship between virtue and happiness, other-regarding demands, and the significance of linking neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics with a view of the meaning of life and a spiritual life where contemplation has a central role. This book will be valuable for philosophers and other readers who are interested in virtue ethics and the perennial question of the meaning of life.

Author: David McPherson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 01/30/2020
Pages: 230
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781108477888

Review Citation(s):
Choice 10/01/2020

About the Author
McPherson, David: - David McPherson is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Creighton University, Omaha. He is the editor of Spirituality and the Good Life: Philosophical Approaches (Cambridge, 2017).