Alasdair MacIntyre, more than any other figure, was responsible for the resurgence of contemporary interest in the concept of virtue. His influence extends well beyond the disciplines of philosophy and theology reaching into professional ethics (business ethics, medical ethics, nursing ethics, ethics of policing, etc.), where his influence has perhaps been greatest. He was unquestionably an exceptional individual of extraordinary ability and achievement.
On a personal level, I am proud to share the same birth City as him – Glasgow. I was immensely privileged to have engaged with him in his office at Notre Dame University in 2005 where I found him in a generous and optimistic mood, he even told me who his favourite saint was – St Philip Neri. I discussed my interest in character virtues and he was most encouraging. I attended some of his lectures when he occasionally returned to the UK and over dinner at Oxford University in 2009, I managed, as editor of the British Journal of Educational Studies, to secure the lecture he delivered that night which I published in 2009 as ‘The Very Idea of a University, Aristotle, Newman and Us’. Without his inspiration and writing it is by no means certain that the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues would have been founded. He certainly prepared the ground on which the Centre stands.
MacIntyre stood out as the philosopher who offered the most profound critique of virtue in modern society. His cumulative body of work together with his range of reference, level of output and outstanding impact on theory and practice far outstripped those of anyone currently working in the area. His influence was profound outside of the academic towers of pure philosophy. The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues could not have been fully conceived without him preparing the way. We as a Centre are indebted to this extraordinary and humble man.