After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory

In the societies of the classical and medieval eras, morality was conceived and taught in the form of stories—mythology, poetic epics, or the Bible. People conceived of themselves as members of a society with a particular social role and particular moral and social values. The modern habit of introspection, or mentally stepping back to look at oneself and one’s culture objectively, was unknown to these ancient societies. In the world depicted in Homer’s epics, a person’s identity is tied in with his actions: “a man and his actions become identical” (122). Friends and enemies are sharply defined, and loyalty is prized as the bond of friendship. Heroism and courage—especially on the battlefield—are chief values, and thus MacIntyre chooses the term “heroic society” to describe these cultures (See: Index of Terms).

Thus, in classical societies virtues are embedded in a social structure, so much so that “morality and social structure are in fact one and the same in heroic society” (123, emphasis added)—there is no conception of morality as distinct from social relationships. Moreover, the ethic of classical societies assumes that human life “has a determinate form, the form of a certain kind of story” (124), as reflected in

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