Rand and MacIntyre on moral agency

This paper contrasts the work of Ayn Rand and Alasdair MacIntyre on moral agency. Both argue that moral agency requires the application of a consistent moral code across relationships with others and that such consistency is rarely evident in the modern social order. However, while MacIntyre holds this failure to be a defining feature of the modern social order, Rand holds this to be a failure of individuals and a marker of a wider cultural confusion. While Rand sees selfishness and capitalism as the means to overcome individual and institutional "mixed premises," MacIntyre condemns both.