AN INTERPRETATION OF THE RELATION BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY IN ALASDAIR MACINTYRE'S CONCEPT OF TRADITION

The article specifically addresses Maclntyre's rereading of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, as well as his analysis of certain relevant discussions in the social sciences. According to the author, abandoning Aristotelianism and its teleological scheme of philosophical research and practical reason has generated confusion and incoherence in the conceptual formulations of modern and contemporary moral philosophy. In Maclntyre's view, the concept of tradition considers the present as a reappropriation of the past, thus bringing coherence to argumentation. For purposes of this paper, we have adopted an approach that is halfway between analytical methodology and conceptual history, based on the acknowledgment of different discussions that nurture Maclntyre's concepts. Finally, the article assesses the philosopher's contributions, while also pointing out some of the limitations of his thesis.