Virtue and Meaning argues that any adequate neo-Aristotelian virtue ethic must account for our distinctive nature as the meaning-seeking animal. This book is intended for philosophers and other readers who have an interest in virtue ethics and the perennial question of the meaning of life.

The revival of Aristotelian virtue ethics can be seen as a response to the modern problem of disenchantment, that is, 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. This book will be valuable for philosophers and other readers who are interested in virtue ethics and the perennial question of the meaning of life.

'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 fulfilment 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, University of Reading, University of Roehampton, London, and Honorary Fellow of St John's College, University of Oxford