One of the most vital and controversial works in twentieth-century world moral philosophy, After Virtue (1981) examines how we think about, talk about, and act out our moral views in the modern world. Finding that modern moral reasoning has no common standard of judgment, MacIntyre challenges many contemporary moral theories and their emphasis on the individual. He asks what it means to live a moral life and looks for answers in unusual places, re-examining Aristotle's ancient views on ethics and how they are linked to the idea of virtue. MacIntyre suggests a moral life must be lived in a community where every individual has a purpose.