Kwartalnik Instytutu
Jana Pawła II KUL
Lublin

DOI 10.12887/28-2015-1-109-08

According to Alasdair MacIntyre, a leading representative of communitarianism, the modern culture of the West suffers from a deep crisis, which is particularly evident in the sphere of politics as well as in the social system of values. In his latest works MacIntyre dwells, among others, on the issue of the culture-making role of the university, considered by him as the institution responsible for the condition of the humanities and for the quality of the research work conducted within the humanistic disciplines. He holds that the tendency to marginalize or even deprecate the humanities causes a serious concern and rejects the idea that philosophy occupies a merely subordinate place in the academic curriculum, since it does not entail acquiring useful skills or contribute to the education of professionals who are the core of a developed capitalist society. MacIntyre rejects the view that philosophy may be included in the academic curriculum only on condition that it provides students with abilities that will turn out useful to them in advancing their professional careers. Instead, he elaborates on the concept of the culture-building role of philosophy as the field providing the theoretical principles for a wide range of disciplines, including the sciences. Philosophical reflection is also a primary source of the fundamental political ideas, and it addresses the question of values which underlie our everyday moral practices. For all the above reasons, the humanistic formation the traditional university provides must be socially appreciated. If this is not the case, the reason is that the academic milieus all to eagerly accept the tendency to submit the humanities, as well as philosophy, to the laws of the market, as if they were merely providing educational services and their research results were goods on offer. Unfortunately, the current reinforcement of the tendency in question only contributes to the crisis of culture which MacIntyre describes as “modern barbarism.”

Translated by Dorota Chabrajska

Keywords: Alasdair MacIntyre, the condition of philosophy, modern university, the humanities, applied sciences in relation to philosophy

Contact: Zakład Historii Myśli Społecznej, Instytut Filozofii, Wydział Filozofii i Socjologii,
Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej, pl. Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 4, 20-033 Lublin, Poland

E-mail: jolanta.zdybel@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl
Phone: +48 81 5372862