agency

equality

family

human being

immanence

malaise of modernity

modernity

morality

multiculturalism

politics of recognition

private sphere

public sphere

social imaginary

subjectivity

nationality

Canadian

occupation / innovator as

philosopher

university professor

McGill University

innovator in the field of

history of philosophy

intellectual history

philosophy of social science

political philosophy

is an inherently human capacity to act. The capacity for evaluating desires.

Like Burke, Taylor (1985) analyzes agency with regard to motives, but he defines agency as an inherently human capacity to act (a). According to Taylor, (1985) 'The capacity for second-order desires, or evaluating desires, is essential to human agency' (p. 27). He contrasts weak evaluation, simple desire for a given thing, against strong evaluation, a deeper articulation of human value or worth (Taylor, 1985, p. 25). A strong evaluator makes choices based on what kind of agent he or she aspires to be. Agency is thus linked with human identity effectuated through 'courses of action' (p. 27). Taylor's description of agency as self-reflective compliments the individual, rather than the collective (p. 42). Many scholars concur with this Western sensibility of self-authorship and agency as an intrinsically human ability to question and act upon evaluations (Campbell, 2003, p. 3... Turnball, 2004, p. 208). (wiki)

is, in fact, highly discriminatory and impractical when it is based on the idea (at the heart of liberalism) that individual rights should be emphasized, that the state should be neutral to differences, and that everyone should be treated equal regardless of background. Instead the worth of differences should be recognized.

For Taylor ( 1992), a form of liberalism that emphasizes individual rights, state neutrality and the value of difference blindness that treats everyone as equal regardless of one's background is 'highlydiscriminatory.' and 'impractical in tomorrow's world' (p. 43). In his widely-citedwork.. 'Politics of Recognition:' he argues that it is crucial 'we all recognize theequal value of different cultures: that we not only let them survive. butacknowledge their worth' (p. 64).

is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.

A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.

is a self-articulating animal engaged in the question of what makes life worth while.

self-articulating animals engaged in a continual process of enquiry and reflection about what makes life worthwhile (Taylor 1989).

is an exclusive humanism in which the highest good or final goal is nothing other than human flourishing.

For Taylor, immanence is an exclusive humanism in which the highest good or final goal is human flourishing per se rather than something that transcends or is independent of haman flourishing (ibid: 16-17)

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Human beings are self-interpreting animals. This is a widely echoing themeof contemporary philosophy. Ir is central to a thesis about the sciences ofman, and what differentiates them from the sciences of nature, whichpasses through Dilthey and is very strong in the late twentieth century. It isone of the basic ideas of Heidegger's philosophy, early and late. Partlythrough his influence, it has been made the starring point for a new skein ofconnected conceptions of man, self-undc:rstanding and history, of whichthe most prominent protagonist has been Gadamer. At the same time, thisconception of man as self-interpreting has been incorporated into the workof Habcrmas, the most important successor of the post-Marxist line ofthought known somewhat strangely as critical theory.

is a historically unprecedented amalgam of new practices and institutions, institutional forms, new ways of living, new forms of malaise, progress, and rationalization.

Modernity' is that '[h]istorically unprecedented amalgam of new practices and institutional forms (science, technology, industrialproduction urbanization), of new ways of living (individualism, secularization, instrumental rationality)... and of new forms of malaise (alienation, meaninglessness, a sense of impending social dissolution). Progress and rationalization' (Charles Tayor in Modern Social Imaginaries)

is debates about what is the correct thing to do in situations involving others.

Charles Taylor defines morality, which includes values or 'goods', asencompassing the individual's relationships with each other. 'Debates ariseabout what is the correct thing to do in situations involving others and responsestypically revolve around ideas of rights, duties, obligations and justice' (Abbey,2000, p. 10). Along with these issues are others concerning a person's sense ofdignity, self-respect and a sense of meaning or fulfilment in life. He placesimportance on the fact that any moral philosophy 'must make some contact withhow people actually experience their moral lives' (p. 14).' (web)

is an alternative political philosophy used to address the weakness of liberalism and to deal with an increasingly diverse population in contemporary western industrial society.

For many political political philosophers, such as Charles Taylor. multiculturalism is analternative political philosophy used to address the weakness of liberalism and todeal with an increasingly diverse population in contemporary Westen1 industrialsociety (Abu-Laban. 2002).

is necessarily dialogical.: That is, it concerns esteeming other cultures, and doing so requires that we must in a sense fuse horizons with them.

For Taylor multiculturalism is necessarily the dialogical. The pole of authenticity and identity is about esteem: about our esteeming other cultures. And we can only judge other cultures if we fuse horizons with them.

is not about rights... it is about the responsibility to respect the self-understanding of other individuals.

For Taylor, multiculturalism is not about rights... it isabout the responsibility to respect the self-understanding of other individuals, where, in the end,the individualist Canadian majority must respect that communitarian Quebecers understand themselves as a nation. And so Taylor can only go so far in recognizing Quebecers' selfunderstanding,given the limitations to the debate: the responsibility is that of individuals, not ofgroups.

 creates its own semi-public spheres. The realms of art, music and literature are private realms:.

The term private should not be taken too narrowly here, for this private sphere creates its own semi-public spheres. According to Taylor a strictly private imagination would do poorly. Taylor defines the realms of art, music and literature as private realms: ' . . . w

is a common, intercommunicative 'space' in which different forms of communication (face to face as well as mediatized) are potentially interconnected. It is one of the three 'social imaginaries crucial to western modernity along with the citizen-state and the marker.

The social segmentation of the public sphere is already irnplicit in theHabermasian theory of its historical transformation frorn a feudal to abourgeois form. Political theorist Charles Taylor defines the public sphereas one of the three 'social imaginaries' crucial to Western Moderniry alongwith the citizen-state and the marker. The public sphere of public opinionrepresents a common, intercommunicative 'space' in which different forms ofcommunicacion, fuce to face as well as mediatized, are potentially interconnected:'The discussion ve're having on television now cakes account ofwhat Was said in the newspaper this morning, which in turn repons on theradio debate yesterday, and so on. Thar's why we usually speak of the publicsphere in the singular.' This interconnectedness of the public sphere highlightsits double nature as both unitary and fragmented. The former ispredicated on institutional preconditions, usually in die forrn of constitutionalsafeguards regarding freedom of expression. The unitary public sphere

is, for the Germans in the late 18th century, characterized by self-realization, not in relation to some ideal order... it is something that unfolds from the subject himself in his own realization, and is first made determinate in that realization.

The expressivist anthropology thus sharply breaks with the modern scientific objectification of nature, at least as far as human nature is concerned (we shall see later how it goes beyond this). In seeing human life as expression, it rejects the dichotomy of meaning against being... it deals once more in the Aristotelian coin of final causes and holistic concepts. But in another respect it is quintessentally modern... for it incorporates the idea of a self-defining subjectivity. The realization of his essence is a subject's self-realization... so that what he defines himself in relation to is not an ideal order beyond, but rather something which unfolds from himself, is his own realization, and is first made determinate in that realization. THis is one of the key ideas underlying the revolution of the late eighteenth century. But it is more than that... it is one of the foundational ideas of the civilization which has grown up since. In different forms, it is one of the major idees-forces which has shaped the contemporary world. It is worth examining further what it involves' (Taylor Hegel 18).

Charles TaylorThinkers

Charles Taylor