Pope John Paul II Journal of Philosophy

Every age, people, and culture – asks and provides responses to the question of meaning or human fulfilment. In line with the continuous biological, socio-political, and techno-scientific evolution of human beings, the modes of enquiry and the responses are constantly changing. In those ages and cultures where socio-political structures promoted social virtues, the common good and virtues ranked high among the responses to the question of fulfilment. Conversely, in ages and cultures where the disengaged-self is prioritized over social roles, personal wellbeing and private goods dominated the scale of responses. In such cultures of individualism – particularly our contemporary virtual culture – mentorship and guidance on good living are not virtue-based, as they are within virtue-oriented communities. Instead, responses to the questions of self-fulfilment are exclusively reserved to the individuals and a few others whose claim of influence align with private convictions. This paper interrogates the new modes of posing the question of self-fulfilment in light of Alasdair MacIntyre’s virtue theory of practice. MacIntyre maintains that the question of happiness or self-fulfilment can be rightly posed and adequately answered only within a community defined by certain practices and oriented toward shared virtues. Consequently, this study establishes critical dialogues between MacIntyrean system of ethics and modern as well as contemporary individualism. It also critically engages MacIntyre’s notion of practice to assess the extent to which he responds to the question of self-fulfilment, while evaluating his attempt to establish an objective standard of virtue. Some

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