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A Short History of Ethics  By  cover art

A Short History of Ethics

By: Alasdair MacIntyre
Narrated by: Tim Dalgleish
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Publisher's summary

A Short History of Ethics is a significant contribution written by one of the most important living philosophers. It remains an important work, ideal for all students interested in ethics and morality.

The book is published by University of Notre Dame Press.

©1996, 1998 Alasdair MacIntyre (P)2017 Redwood Audiobooks
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"The author has become perhaps the most important moral philosopher in the English-speaking world." ( First Things)
"MacIntyre's highly respected Short History has been translated into six languages. MacIntyre is always provocative, and this book will continue to excite engagement with fundamental moral issues." ( Choice)
"This brilliant and provocative book is not so much a history of ethics as it is an essay about the history of ethics...it is interesting and philosophically important in a way that most short histories...are not." ( Philosophical Review)

What listeners say about A Short History of Ethics

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Great philosopher made ridiculous by accents

MacIntyre is a terrific philosopher of virtue ethics, and this work gives an historical account of how his approach is embedded in our history. That’s fantastic and gives a new window on him for me. Dalgliesh is a good reader, but publishers!, please stop giving us stupid accents as if this were an adaptation of the book as a dramatic performance. The history of philosophy (and indeed, any book) is not improved by hamming it up.

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10 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Solid, with a caveat

this is great content and very much worth the time. The caveat is this… The narrators accent was a barrier for me at first but soon was no issue and even enjoyable

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8 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Difficult to follow

A Pdf version of this book is necessary and should be offered as the subject and story is difficult to follow. Having said that, the narrator has a thick dialect and by the time I think I understood the words he said I'm lost as to what the author has expressed. Not impressed!

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good substance spoiled by bad narration.

This is a dense book . A true philosophical treatise. Not for easy listening. The narration made it unbeatable; so monotonous, so robotic. And what is it about the impersonation of foreign accents when quoting a philosopher? why? what's the point? what does it serve?

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Difficult to listen to

I do not think an audiobook is the best format for this book. I understand why someone with a Scottish brogue was selected to read a book by a Scottish philosopher, but made the dense content more difficult to follow.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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God-awful reading…….painful

The reading is so terribly, painfully bad as to render the work virtually unusable. Returning the title because I can’t event make it through.

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