Alisdair MacIntyre is a major reformer of modern philosophy, still kicking at the time of writing at the age of 87. He is particularly noted for his treatment of ethics in " After Virtue ". His ethical treatment of  economics are discussed here Fore the purpose of this blog, his main contribution is the concept of "intelligibility". How do you regard one system of ethics as superior or "more advanced" than another? His answer is that, in an advanced system, "lesser" systems are at least " intelligible ". For example, we can understand the idea of chopping off heads to make the sun rise every day even if we abhor it. On the other hand, "modern" ideas of tolerance, forgiveness and justice may not have made sense to the average Aztec. I like this idea as an alternative to slugging away and trying to prove ourselves "right", which has resulted only in the exponential growth of philosophical papers nobody reads. We need ...