Dependent Rational Animals

Why Human Beings Need the Virtues (The Paul Carus Lectures)

By: Alasdair MacIntyre

Narrated by: Simon Barber

To flourish, humans need to develop virtues of independent thought and acknowledged social dependence. In this book, a leading moral philosopher presents a comparison of humans to other animals and explores the impact of these virtues.

Alasdair MacIntyre is one of the foremost ethicists of the past half-century. He makes a sustained argument for the centrality, in well-lived human lives, of both virtue and local communities of giving and receiving. He criticizes the mainstream of Western ethics, including his own previous position, for not taking seriously the dependent and animal sides of human nature, thereby overemphasizing the powers of reason and the pursuit of reason and the pursuit of autonomy.

The book is published by Open Court Publishing Company. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"This important work in ethics is essential for the professional philosopher and is highly readable for students at all levels and for thoughtful citizens." (CHOICE)

©1999 Carus Publishing Company (P)2023 Redwood Audiobooks

A Remarkable and Important Book

This book was written 24 years ago by the eminent philosopher Alasdair McIntyre. He had long worked to give a clear and rational presentation of the virtues, the characteristics necessary to live the good life. He begins in this book with Aristotle and Aquinas as well as dolphins. Human beings are animals, they begin as such and remain as such with the bodily desires and needs of all animals. We begin too with the intelligence common to other animals such as the dolphins and our fellow great apes. With language we can move beyond this to become independent practical reasoners following the practice-independent obligations of giving and receiving (the virtues) that allow us to collectively live the good life. McIntyre's reasoning is clear and clearly presented by Simon Barber. Mr.Barber voices the words in a way that brings them alive, as if the author was speaking directly to us. It is a boon to have this audiobook version as I had missed the book all those years ago. It remains vital as a call to examine our own moral code and as a critique of the nation-state and capitalism, both of which point to the need to seek the good life in our immediate communities and networks.

The 2nd Half is Best

If you’re wondering whether the book gets better, let this review encourage you that it does. MacIntyre spends the first 6 chapters building a foundation. Personally I enjoyed chapters 7-13 most.