ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Alasdair MacIntyre’s rejection of natural rights is closely related to an underappreciated shift in his thinking. This shift consists in him adopting an account of natural law as an alternative to the idiom human rights. The chapter deals with examining MacIntyre’s reasons for doubting the existence of natural rights. It also argues that while following those reasons MacIntyre encountered difficulties, which in turn led him to embrace natural law. The chapter examines his account of natural law in greater detail and demonstrates how the account of natural law allows MacIntyre to expand on his critique of natural rights. It explores the normative structure of a community whose shared life would be informed by precepts of natural law. The chapter aims to draw implications from MacIntyre’s views for the issue of legal change, although what he explicitly says about the latter is very limited.
