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Quotation from After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory by Alasdair MacIntyre
“I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’”
After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, Chapter 15 (Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, 3rd ed. (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007), p. 216; wording checked on 4 Nov 2026 against an archive.org scan of the third edition)
MacIntyre's thesis that human beings are story-telling animals whose choices make sense only within a narrative.
Citation: "I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’" — Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, Chapter 15 (Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, 3rd ed. (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007), p. 216; wording checked on 4 Nov 2026 against an archive.org scan of the third edition). (id macintyre-after-virtue-q1)
