Triangle Common Good

Come join Triangle Common Good in reading and discussing Chapters 9-18 of Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue.

This session will be facilitated by Ben Cook. Cook holds a PhD in philosophy and possesses a strong understanding of MacIntyre's work. This will be a chance to learn - in a beginner friendly way - from someone with background in the ideas we'll be talking about.

This is Part II of our MacIntyre deep-dive that Ben is generously providing for us, but you can still attend if you missed Part I!

Alasdair MacIntyre was a professor for moral philosophy who began his career focused on a Marxist analysis of society. However, after his 1980 conversion to Catholicism and reading of the works of Thomas Kuhn, he transitioned to an approach influenced by St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine (although he maintained to the end of his career that he found Marx's critiques of capitalism accurate, even as he came to believe Marxism lacked a proper account of morality).

In After Virtue, MacIntyre argues that morality was previously grounded by an idea of "telos": the natural end(s) we should pursue as humans, tied to a concept of human flourishing. For him, the Enlightenment and liberal modernity severed the connection between morality and telos, and our moral language is now necessarily incoherent and empty. A belief in "emotivism", the idea that moral statements are just an expression of vague feelings of "boo" or "yay" rather than expressing belief in real propositions, has resulted from this. This emotivism accurately describes how we currently use moral language, but it has incorrectly caused people to believe that this is what moral language actually means. The way to restore a proper moral language then lies in the return of teleological virtue, where morality follows pursuing the natural ends of well-functioning humans.

We'll be looking at his work as it relates to the group's goal of considering the idea of "what is the good?" and what constitutes a proper account of human flourishing.

Come join Triangle Common Good this September in reading Matthew McManus' What is Liberal Socialism? With the recent wins of democratic socialist candidates, we will discuss what a liberal socialism looks like and if it can address populist concerns.

In What is Liberal Socialism?, McManus makes a distinction between the authoritarian versions of socialism seen in the 20th century and a tradition of liberal socialism that can be seen in liberals going back to John Stuart Mill, arguing this retrieved version of liberalism can meet the needs of our current moment.

Matthew McManus is a professor of political science whose work has focused on the rise of "postmodern conservatism" as a backlash to neoliberal policies. We have read some of his past work in our discussion materials for our sessions on Patrick Deneen and Michael Oakeshott.

Liberalism and socialism have long been understood as mortal enemies, but both developed out of the Enlightenment and are committed to the importance of reason, freedom, and flourishing for all. In What is Liberal Socialism? Matt McManus, Florian Maiwald and Paul Crider make the case for retrieving a long-forgotten tradition of liberal socialist thought. Looking at seminal thinkers from John Stuart Mill to Chantal Mouffe and John Rawls, the book lays out the strengths and weaknesses of liberal socialism in the context of the tumultuous 21st century, arguing that it may be an overlooked source of hope, one deserving of reconsideration in an era of right wing populism.

Join Triangle Common Good in supporting the local community by helping to setup the annual Harvest Dinner fundraiser put on by Raleigh City Farm!