Virtue and Economy

'Can one lead a good life in a market economy? This collection of essays provides critical and challenging answers to that question moving beyond familiar arguments about the injustice and unsustainability of advanced capitalist markets. Its authors, including Alasdair MacIntryre, argue that human relationships are distorted by the market and that both those who succeed and those who fail by its standards are deprived the opportunity to lead an ethically coherent life. Bielskis and Knight have carefully chosen essays which build on MacIntyre's work and provide a rich introduction to a distinctly ethical critique of markets. It is a collection which deserves to be read.' Ron Beadle, Northumbria University, UK 'This is an important and original work that provides a sustained ethical critique of the neoliberal principles that have governed economic policy and an extended critique of business ethics by Alasdair MacIntyre. A timely and necessary volume.' Sean Sayers, University of Kent, UK 'For contributors from East and West, the recent global economic crisis is symptomatic of a deeper moral and intellectual crisis that undermines practical reasoning in the institutions that direct our economic and political lives. Applying Alasdair MacIntyre's philosophy to modern liberal or neo-liberal institutions, this important volume brings a new perspective and valuable insight to contemporary ethics, politics and economics.'

Christopher Stephen Lutz, Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, USA

'Summing up, it is remarkable how many reflections, thought-provoking and useful for economic ideas, stem from MacIntyre's thinking. This prompts me to suggest not only reading this book but also, even before, MacIntyre's After Virtue, which is the root of these reflections.'

Ricardo Crespo IAE, Universidad Austral, Buenos Aires, Argentina