MacIntyre's closing chapters begin to take a hard, critical look at the concept of work in the present. What he says is mostly undeniable. The concept of the internal good has been largely ripped from work in our generation. We are told, as students, to avoid pursuing a career with the allure of significant income. Yet how can we avoid such decisions? Most students fall into a large amount of debt in pursuing a career. If we choose to switch our focus, we often must remain at school longer and accumulate more debt. I believe the average person is not selfish, but rather that he is interested in securing a comfortable life for himself and his family. When our current goals do not meet these expectations, how can we not desire a more economically secure life?
MacIntyre's views on justice as a virtue also interested me. If we are to believe that virtues are simply a medium through which we can follow a particular set of rules, than that set of rules must be defined. Yet, MacIntyre claims our "individualist" culture cannot reach a consensus on such a set of rules. MacIntyre notes that our concepts of entitlement here are fragmented and illegitimate, as most claims of entitlement can be described as violently taken from native people. However, I am not sure that realizing what the human purpose is could be much easier than reaching an agreement on a set of moral rules. I believe our society has chosen to make an effort on a set of rules because it is easier than defining or investigating the purpose of human life. Some agreement can occur on the subject of right/wrong with respect to a set of rules, and some agreement can be made on the reason for human life. I am just not sure if one is more reasonable than the other.
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