The Introduction for Virtue and Meaning can be read here, and Chapter 3 can be read here. A blog post about the book can be read here. You can also preview the book on Google Books. I did an extended interview about the book for Ethical Theory Review podcast, which can be downloaded and listened to here.
Abstract:
The revival of Aristotelian virtue ethics can be seen as a response to the modern problem of disenchantment, i.e., the perceived loss of meaning in modernity. However, in Virtue and Meaning, David McPherson contends that the dominant approach still embraces an overly disenchanted view. In a wide-ranging discussion, McPherson argues for a more fully re-enchanted perspective that gives better recognition to the meanings by which we live and after which we seek, and to the fact that human beings are the meaning-seeking animal. In doing so, he defends distinctive accounts of the relationship between virtue and happiness, other-regarding demands, and the significance of linking neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics with a view of the meaning of life and a spiritual life where contemplation has a central role.
Endorsements:
"This book is strikingly excellent. It is beautifully argued, fair-minded, and a pleasure to read. It is also the most authentically neo-Aristotelian account of ethics and the moral life that I have read. In making a case for a higher, more noble, more meaningful form of life, it deserves to be widely considered, and I would not be surprised if people someday spoke of it alongside works by G. E. M. Anscombe, Alasdair MacIntyre, Charles Taylor, and a few others."
-- Stephen R. Grimm, Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University and series editor of "Guides to the Good Life" (Oxford University Press)
"An original and finely crafted study that takes us way beyond the standard agenda of modern virtue ethics. McPherson persuasively and illuminatingly argues that the human search for fulfillment needs to be understood within a much richer and more resonant framework of objective meaning and value than is allowed for by most contemporary moral philosophers."
-- John Cottingham, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at University of Reading, Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford University, and author, most recently, of In Search of the Soul: A Philosophical Essay (Princeton University Press, 2020)
"Like other animals, human beings live lives that can be flourishing or not so flourishing. But they also quest for meaning in their lives and in their world. McPherson's fine new book is both an exploration of the joins and the gaps between these two aspects of human nature, and also itself an example of that quest."
-- Sophie-Grace Chappell, Professor of Philosophy at The Open University and author of Knowing What To Do: Imagination, Virtue, and Platonism in Ethics (Oxford University Press, 2014)
"Philosophy’s proper goal is wisdom, a goal too often occluded by the pursuit of mere cleverness or intellectual demolition for its own sake. David McPherson’s engrossing and highly stimulating new book is a paradigm of philosophy in this traditional sense. Compact yet not rushed, jargon-light without being woolly, and both religiously and artistically informed without trespassing on other disciplines, it is a real pleasure to read. Its sharp critique of neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics is enriched by a positive and capacious vision, namely, the centrality of ‘meaning’ to the genuinely virtuous life. ... [The] overall contribution of his book is significant and it deserves a wide readership."
-- Tom Angier (University of Cape Town) in the Journal of Moral Philosophy
"Philosophers’ first books are often narrow and cautious. They tend to dive deeply into one topic, engage with the main positions out there, and then advance their own account, which can just be a variant of one of the leading views. David McPherson’s first book, Virtue and Meaning: A Neo-Aristotelian Perspective, takes a refreshingly different approach. It is bold in ambition and vast in scope, covering topics ranging from the meaning of life, the nature of virtue, the objectivity of morality, the fine tuning of the universe, the problem of evil, spirituality and contemplation, and many more. Writing in the tradition of philosophers such as Alasdair MacIntyre and Charles Taylor, McPherson offers us a rich, deeply enchanted picture of the world, and in particular of virtue, happiness, and meaning. His writing is engaging and easy to follow, and the result is a book that is a significant addition to the literature."
-- Christian B. Miller (Wake Forest University) in Res Philosophica
"David McPherson’s Virtue and Meaning is the engaging and provocative product of a determination to resist what McPherson sees as a very bad turn in modern intellectual life. Professional musers about value have, he thinks, been caught up in a regrettable scientistic tendency to prescind from our lived experience in developing their accounts of the right and the good. They treat too lightly our experiences of ourselves, others, and the world as imbued with value and meaning, and the results are visions of the good life that are disappointingly disenchanted. These visions have the advantage of looking scientifically respectable. They don’t call on us to believe in anything supernatural or essentially mysterious. But accepting them means treating key elements of our moral phenomenology as nonveridical, and that is something we ought to hold out against if we can. ... Virtue and Meaning is throughout a thought-provoking work that raises important questions not only for neo-Aristotelians but also for anyone interested in meaningful life."
-- Olivia Bailey (UC-Berkeley) in Ethics
"Virtue and Meaning is an important and engaging book with a very plausible central argument. It should be read by anyone interested in contemporary virtue ethics. Highly recommended."
-- Eric Silverman (Christopher Newport University) in the Review of Metaphysics
"McPherson .... offers a thorough defense of the claim that neo-Aristotelian virtue theorists fail to respond effectively to the contemporary problem of disenchantment. ... Highly recommended."
-- S. A. Mason (Concordia University) in Choice
Abstract:
The revival of Aristotelian virtue ethics can be seen as a response to the modern problem of disenchantment, i.e., the perceived loss of meaning in modernity. However, in Virtue and Meaning, David McPherson contends that the dominant approach still embraces an overly disenchanted view. In a wide-ranging discussion, McPherson argues for a more fully re-enchanted perspective that gives better recognition to the meanings by which we live and after which we seek, and to the fact that human beings are the meaning-seeking animal. In doing so, he defends distinctive accounts of the relationship between virtue and happiness, other-regarding demands, and the significance of linking neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics with a view of the meaning of life and a spiritual life where contemplation has a central role.
Endorsements:
"This book is strikingly excellent. It is beautifully argued, fair-minded, and a pleasure to read. It is also the most authentically neo-Aristotelian account of ethics and the moral life that I have read. In making a case for a higher, more noble, more meaningful form of life, it deserves to be widely considered, and I would not be surprised if people someday spoke of it alongside works by G. E. M. Anscombe, Alasdair MacIntyre, Charles Taylor, and a few others."
-- Stephen R. Grimm, Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University and series editor of "Guides to the Good Life" (Oxford University Press)
"An original and finely crafted study that takes us way beyond the standard agenda of modern virtue ethics. McPherson persuasively and illuminatingly argues that the human search for fulfillment needs to be understood within a much richer and more resonant framework of objective meaning and value than is allowed for by most contemporary moral philosophers."
-- John Cottingham, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at University of Reading, Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford University, and author, most recently, of In Search of the Soul: A Philosophical Essay (Princeton University Press, 2020)
"Like other animals, human beings live lives that can be flourishing or not so flourishing. But they also quest for meaning in their lives and in their world. McPherson's fine new book is both an exploration of the joins and the gaps between these two aspects of human nature, and also itself an example of that quest."
-- Sophie-Grace Chappell, Professor of Philosophy at The Open University and author of Knowing What To Do: Imagination, Virtue, and Platonism in Ethics (Oxford University Press, 2014)
"Philosophy’s proper goal is wisdom, a goal too often occluded by the pursuit of mere cleverness or intellectual demolition for its own sake. David McPherson’s engrossing and highly stimulating new book is a paradigm of philosophy in this traditional sense. Compact yet not rushed, jargon-light without being woolly, and both religiously and artistically informed without trespassing on other disciplines, it is a real pleasure to read. Its sharp critique of neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics is enriched by a positive and capacious vision, namely, the centrality of ‘meaning’ to the genuinely virtuous life. ... [The] overall contribution of his book is significant and it deserves a wide readership."
-- Tom Angier (University of Cape Town) in the Journal of Moral Philosophy
"Philosophers’ first books are often narrow and cautious. They tend to dive deeply into one topic, engage with the main positions out there, and then advance their own account, which can just be a variant of one of the leading views. David McPherson’s first book, Virtue and Meaning: A Neo-Aristotelian Perspective, takes a refreshingly different approach. It is bold in ambition and vast in scope, covering topics ranging from the meaning of life, the nature of virtue, the objectivity of morality, the fine tuning of the universe, the problem of evil, spirituality and contemplation, and many more. Writing in the tradition of philosophers such as Alasdair MacIntyre and Charles Taylor, McPherson offers us a rich, deeply enchanted picture of the world, and in particular of virtue, happiness, and meaning. His writing is engaging and easy to follow, and the result is a book that is a significant addition to the literature."
-- Christian B. Miller (Wake Forest University) in Res Philosophica
"David McPherson’s Virtue and Meaning is the engaging and provocative product of a determination to resist what McPherson sees as a very bad turn in modern intellectual life. Professional musers about value have, he thinks, been caught up in a regrettable scientistic tendency to prescind from our lived experience in developing their accounts of the right and the good. They treat too lightly our experiences of ourselves, others, and the world as imbued with value and meaning, and the results are visions of the good life that are disappointingly disenchanted. These visions have the advantage of looking scientifically respectable. They don’t call on us to believe in anything supernatural or essentially mysterious. But accepting them means treating key elements of our moral phenomenology as nonveridical, and that is something we ought to hold out against if we can. ... Virtue and Meaning is throughout a thought-provoking work that raises important questions not only for neo-Aristotelians but also for anyone interested in meaningful life."
-- Olivia Bailey (UC-Berkeley) in Ethics
"Virtue and Meaning is an important and engaging book with a very plausible central argument. It should be read by anyone interested in contemporary virtue ethics. Highly recommended."
-- Eric Silverman (Christopher Newport University) in the Review of Metaphysics
"McPherson .... offers a thorough defense of the claim that neo-Aristotelian virtue theorists fail to respond effectively to the contemporary problem of disenchantment. ... Highly recommended."
-- S. A. Mason (Concordia University) in Choice