In After Virtue, MacIntyre distinguishes between the internal and external goods of a practice. Internal goods are intrinsic to a specific practice: they can only be achieved by participating in it according to its standards (for example, among the goods of chess are the development of a certain tactical awareness and a particular strategic imagination). …
While watching the 2026 World Snooker Championship, I was surprised by how often the word character was used. Commentators repeatedly praised one player or another for showing (good) character in maintaining their form and composure during particularly challenging and stressful situations. The etymology of the word, as outlined in etymonline, is revealing: The …
Every so often, an article appears in the national press announcing the death of the university. A recent example in The Telegraph linked the possible demise of universities to the disruptive effects of AI on assessment and coursework. More broadly, the causes usually cited vary: financial instability, student debt, dependence on international recruitment, loss of …
I enjoy reading lists of virtues and was particularly interested to find that Nigel Biggar has recently published a list of virtues for academics, which he terms nine intellectual virtues. These are: temperance respect carefulness patience charity, or generosity humility docility or teachableness thoughtfulness courage Biggar is right to question whether universities can remain ‘eloquent …
Speak No Evil (Danish: Gæsterne, lit. ’The Guests’) directed by Christian Tafdrup The film centers on Bjørn and Louise, a Danish couple invited by Patrick and Karin, a Dutch couple, to their remote country house for a weekend, along with their respective children. It does not take long for the Danes to realise they have made …
In the preface (p. xi) to Dependent Rational Animals: Why Human Beings Need the Virtues (1999), Alasdair MacIntyre refers to a prayer by Thomas Aquinas ‘in which he asks God to grant that he may happily share with those in need what he has, while humbly asking for what he needs from those who have’. …
In recent years at UK universities such as the University of Edinburgh, the language of community and belonging has become increasingly visible. This is evident in institutional initiatives – task groups, staff and student guidance, and strategic plans – that foreground connection, inclusion, and student experience. One explanation is straightforward: universities are responding to identifiable …
In Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry, MacIntyre writes that any answer to the question what are universities for? should begin with this: They are, when they are true to their own vocation, institutions within which questions of the form ‘What are x’s for?’ and ‘What peculiar goods do y’s serve?’ are formulated and answered …
Today there is almost constant talk in universities of excellence: excellence of institutions, of staff, and even of students. A quick search of the University of Edinburgh website yields teaching and research excellence (including the Research Excellence Framework), academic excellence, Exemplars of Excellence in Student Education, VLE Excellence, Tercentenary Awards for Excellence, the Centre for …
Few concepts are invoked more confidently in contemporary universities than the student voice. Yet the way the term is framed – and especially the language of championing it – obscures the limits of student judgement while revealing a deeper unease with educational authority. In higher education, what is needed is not greater responsiveness, but the …
