A Comparative Study of the Ethical Thoughts of McIntire and Pincufs

McIntire and Pincufs are considered among the main philosophers who revitalized the tendency to virtue. The theories of these two philosophers are considered important not only because they contributed to revitalizing the tendency to virtue but also contributed to criticizing rival’s views. Undoubtedly, comparing between the different accounts of the tendency to virtue, including the two above mentioned theories can help in the better understanding of the claim and evidence of the tendency virtue and also its sphere. Reviewing the ethical thoughts of McIntire and Pincufs, this paper makes a comparison between the view of these two philosophers. The research results show that although they have a lot in criticizing the rival’s views, and in their advocacy of and attempting to promote the tendency to virtue, McIntire and Pincufs have major disagreement over some issues. The main differences between them are: McIntire is an anti-liberalist while Pincufs is a liberalist, McIntire is a reductivist but Pincufs is an anti-reductivist, and McIntire is a unicit whereas Pincufs is a pluralist. Also, unlike Pincufs, McIntire insists on the role of society as a factor responsible for establishing man’s identity and history as a determining factor in understanding the meaning of virtue.