A prominent moral philosopher, MacIntyre is best known for his revival of virtue ethics and his critique of modern individualism. His work offers valuable insights into communitarian principles and practices, emphasizing the role of shared ethics, the cultivation of virtue, and the pursuit of the common good.
Alasdair MacIntyre’s landmark work, After Virtue (1981), offers a sharp critique of the ethical disarray in modern liberal societies. He argues that without a shared moral foundation, public debates collapse into disconnected viewpoints that lack common ground.
Rather than relying on abstract individualism or competing ideologies, MacIntyre calls for an ethics grounded in the lived practices of communities working together toward the common good – where virtues emerge through meaningful contribution, shared purpose, and collective responsibility for people and planet.
MacIntyre’s Ethical Foundations
The Role of the Virtuous Community: MacIntyre argues that moral development occurs within ‘Practices’ – cooperative human activities based on shared standards of excellence. Examples of such practices include craftsmanship, education, and forms of cooperative living. Through engagement in practices, individuals develop virtues such as patience, justice, and courage. This view underscores the importance of communities as sites for moral formation, aligning closely with communitarian aims to establish intentional, values-driven societies.
The Common Good and Human Flourishing: For MacIntyre, human flourishing (or eudaimonia) requires participation in a community with shared moral aims. Individuals cannot achieve their potential in isolation. This concept supports the communitarian principle of ‘common’ wealth – the idea that wealth, resources, and well-being are shared for the benefit of all members. MacIntyre’s approach calls for a shift away from the liberal focus on individual rights and self-interest toward a model where “the good of each is bound up with the good of all.”
After Virtue challenges the moral fragmentation of modern life and calls for an ethics rooted in communal practices and mutual responsibility, while highlighting the importance of building communities where people contribute to a shared purpose and develop virtues through meaningful participation. MacIntyre’s thought-provoking perspectives offer a powerful framework for rethinking ethical life as a collective endeavor, making him a key figure in the foundations of communitarian principles and practice.
Virtue in Practice
MacIntyre’s Framework for Everyday Character Development
Daily personal development practices – such as reflective journaling, disciplined routines, tracking progress, and cultivating conscious growth—align strongly with MacIntyre’s vision of moral development. His emphasis on the consistent practice of virtues through lived experience resonates with the Communitarian Union’s concept of ‘Observances’ – intentional actions that build character, purpose, and shared ethical life.
Key connections include:
Moral Apprenticeship Through Habitual Practice: MacIntyre emphasizes the importance of “apprenticeship” in the pursuit of virtue. Just as a craftsman hones their skills through daily practice, moral virtues are acquired through repeated observance of ethical principles. This is akin to the daily Observances of self-reflection, conscious speech, and personal accountability practiced by associates of the global network of Communitarian Unions. By engaging in these ‘Observances’, communitarians cultivate character and deepen their commitment and capacity to contribute to the collective good.
The Role of Role Models and Exemplars: MacIntyre highlights the role of “exemplars” — past and present figures who embody virtues. These individuals act as guides for others, offering a model for what it means to live a virtuous life. This aligns with the practice of participating in peer mentoring and support circles within local, regional and on-line Communitarian Unions.
By observing and learning from those who exemplify wisdom, patience, courage, temperance, and integrity in everyday actions, communitarian associates experience growth as peace-makers – developing the steadiness, discernment, and emotional restraint needed to navigate conflict, contribute constructively, and uphold shared leadership and development responsibilities within the group.
Commitment to a Telos (Ultimate Purpose): One of MacIntyre’s most compelling ideas is the concept of a telos — an ultimate purpose or end goal. He argues that without a clear telos, moral actions become directionless. The pursuit of lasting peace and social harmony which is essential to full integration and satisfaction within ‘Deep Union’ complex relationships, provides a clear telos for communitarian societies.
Daily Observances, which involve acts of generosity – going above and beyond social expectations, norms and duties, gratitude, and care for others, reinforce this shared purpose, creating pathways toward personal and communal flourishing.
Anchoring Group Practice in Virtue
MacIntyre’s Framework for Collaborative Development
While MacIntyre did not explicitly develop Gestalt principles, his insights into human development, communal ethics, and shared practices align with the goals of Gestalt Group Development sessions. These sessions focus on fostering group awareness, deepening interpersonal understanding, and resolving conflicts within communal settings.
The Practice of Collaboration and Accountability: MacIntyre’s emphasis on “practices” as moral spaces finds direct application in Gestalt Group Development. In these group development sessions, participants are called to be fully present with one another, observing interpersonal dynamics closely and addressing conflicts with honesty, emotional intelligence, and the courage to resolve tensions constructively.
The shared aim is to strengthen relational bonds while holding each other accountable for behaviors that harm the collective good. This mirrors MacIntyre’s call for “just practices” to be the foundation of evolved communal living, where rules and obligations exist for the sake of the common good, not arbitrary authority.
Conflict as an Opportunity for Growth: MacIntyre views conflict as an essential part of ethical development. It is only through engagement with opposing views that communal unions clarify their shared goals and moral commitments. Similarly, in Gestalt Group Development, conflict resolution is seen as a pathway to deeper understanding and connection.
Participants confront uncomfortable truths, challenge assumptions, and strive to reach higher levels of group cohesion. This parallels the concept of “becoming peace-makers” — those who transform conflict into a means of growth, harmony, and transformation.
Awareness through Grounded Presence: MacIntyre’s emphasis on virtue formation through daily practice has inspired group development models, such as Communitarian Gestalt processes, where participants cultivate ethical awareness, presence, and shared responsibility for harmony and honest ‘fully dilated’ conflict resolution within the ebb and flow of real-life group dynamics.
A key aspect of Gestalt Group development practice is sustained awareness of the present moment through the cultivated practice of “Grounded Awareness” underpinned by discovered context and historic relevance to current situations, relationship dynamics, perceptions and unspoken expectations and desires. MacIntyre’s view of virtue cultivation also depends on conscious attentiveness to one’s actions, words, and decisions. Without this awareness, virtues cannot be consistently embodied in daily life.
The “purity of mind” promoted in the One Cloak Tapestry of Tenets is one such example, where mental clutter is cleared to support inner steadiness and a clear sense of shared purpose. Participants engage within a clearly defined context that includes the historical and social backdrop of the group’s formation, the timeline of evolving relationships, and any underlying conflicts or tensions that shape group dynamics.
Structured dialogue and shared reflection help bring these layers into awareness, allowing trust and understanding to grow through deliberate, sustained engagement.
A History of Moral Philosophy from the Homeric Age to the Twentieth Century
In A Short History of Ethics, Alasdair MacIntyre traces the evolution of moral philosophy from Homeric Greece to the 20th century, highlighting how ethical thought is shaped by historical and social contexts. MacIntyre critiques the fragmentation of modern moral discourse and argues that understanding past ethical traditions is essential to recovering coherent moral reasoning.
Toward Virtuous Co-Living: MacIntyre's Contribution to the Communitarian Ethos
Alasdair MacIntyre’s profound contributions to communitarian principles and practices provide a robust ethical framework for creating just, peaceful, and collaborative communities. By grounding personal growth in daily Observances and Gestalt-based group development, the Communitarian Unions are supported to forge pathways toward becoming peace-makers.
These practices embody the core of MacIntyre’s philosophy that virtues are developed not in isolation, but through shared endeavors in a communal setting. His insistence on the moral life as a life lived together continues to shape the ethos and principles of communitarian living.
