MacIntyre Discusses Philosophy and Today’s Society

This past Thursday, Alasdair MacIntyre, the O’Brien Senior Research Professor at the University of Notre Dame, packed McGuinn 121 for his thought provoking lecture “Philosophical Education Against Contemporary Culture.” Sponsored by the Church in the 21st Century, the speech was a part of the continuing Albert J. Fitzgibbons Lecture Series in Boston College’s Philosophy Department.

Professor MacIntyre is the author of God, Philosophy, and Universities: A Selective History of the Catholic Philosophical Tradition. He has taught at Brandeis, Boston University, and Wellesley, as well as other institutions.

Known for his “penetrating analysis and tireless critiques of Western ethical and political culture,” Professor MacIntyre drew a crowd so large that late arrivers had to sit on the ground between the aisles.

MacIntyre began his speech after a considerable introduction noting his accomplished career. He jokingly quipped, “It is good to have nice things said about you at the beginning of a lecture, since people may not still be saying them at the end.”

His presentation addressed the current problems facing academic philosophy. He noted that students are often asked questions that they do not have the disposition to answer. Moreover, the preeminent pedagogical approach essentially encourages mimicry.

Students report on the questions and answers of philosophers— people other than themselves— and learn to write papers that imitate the argumentative structures of these other philosophers. Philosophy, MacIntyre lamented, has become exclusively academic—relegated to those with specialized expertise and compartmentalized to spheres separate from the general populace.

MacIntyre mentioned that, quite contrary to the contemporary current of philosophy, the discipline originated from the questions of plain people. He referenced John Paul II, who delineated these primary existential questions, “Who am I? Where am I from? Where am I going? Why is there evil? What happens after this life?” Fides et Ratio noted that it is characteristically human to be a questioning being.

Philosophy was meant to be “an exercise of the whole community,” yet it has presently developed into an esoteric activity. MacIntyre illustrated this by noting that any tendency today to encourage philosophy outside of academia would elicit a negative response.

MacIntyre proceeded to highlight the problem of today’s conception of happiness. One quotation he used for the contemporary definition of happiness is that it constitutes being “stupid, selfish, and in good health.” The specialization of philosophy has directly contributed to the main problem with our culture—its unreflective and unquestioning temperament.

MacIntyre outlined ways to combat today’s situation. He appealed to a dialectical separation of ourselves from the thinking of the dominant culture and a linguistic analysis and re-conception of good and happiness.

As for the teaching of philosophy itself, he pointed out that teachers must situate philosophy to their students as a “conversation—a narrative begun long ago with the existential questions of plain people.”

Professor MacIntyre graciously took questions from the audience. One student sought advice for those at the graduate level of study. MacIntyre said he did not believe in the Ph.D. program for philosophy. He encouraged going out into the work force for 5 years, and then reconsidering at the end of that time if one wants to pursue study further.

Professor MacIntyre’s speech was both thought provoking and accessible—serious yet mixed in with occasional humor. The crowd certainly did not leave intellectually empty-handed, having been graced by an evening with one of the most prominent philosophers of our time.

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