CFP: MacIntyre 90 – Practice, Tradition, Natural Law
The National University of Public Service and the Institute of Philosophy, Hungarian Academy of Sciences are organizing
An international conference in honor of Alasdair MacIntyre
Date and venue: June 27-28, 2019, Budapest, Hungary
The conference is conceived to honor the work of Alasdair MacIntyre, who turned 90 this year. He is among the most important figures of contemporary philosophy and has touched upon several topics during his long-spanning career since his first publication in 1950. These topics pertain to, among other fields, moral philosophy, medical ethics, political theory, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, aesthetics and the philosophy of education; while all kinds of academic disciplines besides philosophy have benefited from his contributions, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, theology, business studies, etc. His views have changed significantly during these years, and he subsequently managed to incorporate in his philosophy insights from diverse thinkers like Marx, Aristotle and Aquinas – to name just the most important ones for him from the hundreds whose ideas he has fruitfully engaged with.
To honor this occasion, the organizers have invited as keynote speakers Ron Beadle (Northumbria University) and Robert P. George (Princeton). Abstract submissions engaging the wide-ranging oeuvre of MacIntyre are also welcomed. Proposed topics for the conference include, but are not limited to the following:
- MacIntyre and his roots: Gaelic culture
- The changes in MacIntyre’s thinking
- MacIntyre’s relationship to Marxism
- MacIntyre’s blend of NeoAristotelianism
- Thomism and natural law
- Is MacIntyre a virtue ethicist?
- Narratives and the unity of human lives
- The notion of tradition
- The problem of moral rationality
- Human rights and justice
- The prospects for the politics of local communities today
- Criticisms and defenses of liberalism, conservatism and communitarianism
- MacIntyre and analytic/continental philosophy
- MacIntyre and religion
- Dependent Rational Animals at 20: naturalist ethics and biology
Proposals – including the name, e-mail address, affiliation and position of the speaker, a title and an abstract of 1500 characters – should be sent by April 30, 2019 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with ‘MacIntyre 90 proposal’ as their topic. Feel free to send any inquiries concerning the conference to the same address.
Organizers:
Ferenc Hörcher (National University of Public Service, Hungarian Academy of Sciences)
Tamás Paár (Pázmány Péter Catholic University)
Zoltán Turgonyi (Hungarian Academy of Sciences)
