ABSTRACT
Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre is a moral philosopher. In 1981 he wrote After Virtue, A Study in Moral Theory, in this book he criticizes modern moral philosophy. Inspired by Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, he defends a virtue ethics in which concepts like virtue, social practice and moral tradition are key elements. Virtue ethics, however, focuses on the moral character of a person. The work of MacIntyre is not widely known among philosophers of technology and management. However, that does not mean that MacIntyre's virtue ethics is not relevant for this field. On the contrary, his study of social practices and the accompanying distinction between internal and external goods may be very useful for a philosophical understanding of technology and management sciences. MacIntyre's concept of social practices is introduced in order to get a clear understanding of the engineering profession. Utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of a moral act and deontology on moral duty.
