MacIntyre, Alasdair

"I do not choose the social context within which I must make my choices."

"A virtue is a human quality the possession of which tends to enable us to flourish."

"The self is not something given prior to social and institutional contexts; it is constructed within them."

"To understand virtue we must understand it within a narrative context."

"Modern culture is characterized by the triumph of preference over truth."

"A practice is a cooperative venture directed toward shared and common goods."

"The decline of shared moral language reflects a deeper fragmentation in modern culture."

"We inherit not just language but also moral concepts and traditions of practice."

"The virtuous person judges rightly about what truly constitutes the good."

"To be a member of a tradition is to have access to the standards of excellence it embodies."

"Modern individualism has blinded us to the essentially social character of human virtue."

"A telos is not something imposed from outside but is intrinsic to the practices and forms of life."

"We understand our lives as moving toward or away from a telos."

"The authority of tradition is not based on the past but on continuing practice and deliberation."

"Moral understanding requires not just abstract knowledge but practical wisdom."

"To lose a tradition is to lose access to goods that can only be understood within it."

"The virtuous person has developed a kind of practical wisdom through long habituation."

"A narrative is a form of understanding and interpretation, not mere chronicle."

"Modern philosophy has inherited an incoherent set of assumptions about human nature."

"To understand myself I must understand the narratives within which I find myself embedded."

"The goods internal to a practice can only be achieved by engaging in that practice."

"A culture which lacks shared moral concepts cannot sustain genuine deliberation."

"Virtues are not individual possessions but social achievements within traditions."

"The concept of the good has become incomprehensible within modern moral frameworks."

"To be virtuous is to be shaped by the traditions and practices of one's community."

"A practice provides a context within which individual excellence becomes meaningful."

"The loss of teleological thinking has made genuine moral education impossible."

"We are historical creatures, always already situated within particular traditions."

"The virtuous person understands that the good cannot be pursued in isolation."

"Modern moral culture is characterized by the proliferation of competing and incommensurable goods."