Alasdair MacIntyre

3,898 words

Introduction here, Chapter 9 Part 2 here

Communities, whether ancient or recent, and whether of a historical, ethnocultural, linguistic, religious, sexual, or other nature, are natural dimensions of belonging. They accompany and underlie chosen forms of identity. No individual can exist without belonging, if only to distance himself from it. The self is always situated; in other words, incorporated into a story — which can never be reduced to a status quo, still less to a past.