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From Library Journal
This book is primarily a historical account of the modernist protest against the disengaged and instrumental modes of thought and action that arose when theistically grounded morality crumbled, but that themselves focused too little upon our inner life, i.e., our powers of creative imagination and the substantive goods of ordinary life, which Taylor alleges give meaning to human life. Associating each ideology with a particular conception of our identity as selves, he defends the modern view, keeping in mind that self-realization must recognize that some things are important beyond the self. Taylor rambles somewhat and often talks about " the good," as though human beings were fungible in their capacities for appreciation and action; but the wealth of illustrative material and frequent insights are thought-provoking. For scholarly collections.
- Robert Hoffman, York Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Robert Hoffman, York Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
'Most of us are still groping for answers about what makes life worth living, or what confers meaning on individual lives', writes Charles Taylor in Sources of the Self. 'This is an essentially modern predicament.' Charles Taylor's latest book sets out to define the modern identity by tracing its genesis, analysing the writings of such thinkers as Augustine, Descartes, Montaigne, Luther, and many others. This then serves as a starting point for a renewed understanding of modernity. Taylor argues that modern subjectivity has its roots in ideas of human good, and is in fact the result of our long efforts to define and attain the good. The modern turn inwards is far from being a disastrous rejection of rationality, as its critics contend, but has at its heart what Taylor calls the affirmation of ordinary life. He concludes that the modern identity, and its attendant rejection of an objective order of reason, is far richer in moral sources that its detractors allow. Sources of the Self provides a decisive defence of the modern order and a sharp rebuff to its critics.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An articulate philosophy of man,
This review is from: Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity (Paperback)
With 'Sources of the Self' Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor has written a seminal work along the lines of Ernst Cassirer's classic 'An Essay on Man'.Deploring the minimal ethics of modernity and dissatisfied with post-modern nihilism, Taylor positions his moral theory in the Aristotelean tradition of 'ethos'. But Taylor does not embrace a pre-defined, teleological destiny. Rather, his premise is that in articulating 'the self' we will discover who we are, what we are supposed to do and where we are going. Taylor's quest into what made man into what he is, is traced back to classic Greek thought and Augustinian theology. Subsequently the author takes us to early modernity: from Locke, via Neoplatonists like Shaftesbury, to the period of Romanticism. Eventually this odyssee of the mind is germinating into present-day man as a self-expressing creature. The richness of Taylor's argumentation is often dazzling; here speaks a man of wide and deep erudition, an authoritative voice of intellectual history, seemingly equally at home in science, history and the arts. In the post-modern wilderness of de-construction, Taylor's articulate and subtle history of mentality is an intellectual joy.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A powerful analysis of Modernity,
This review is from: Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity (Paperback)
Usually Modernity is a cause of a big division: there are some people who love it and some people who hate it. Even scholars have a big difficulty to study the topic with a relative neutral point of view. Fortunately, Taylor succeded to a write an intelligent, deep and powerful analysis to Modernity and its impact in the psychology of the self.In fact Taylor mixed history, theology, philosophy, sociology, psychology, etc. to build a wonderful explanation for the development of the man of the last centuries. Amazing work
5.0 out of 5 stars
An overlooked gem of modern philosophy,
By
This review is from: Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity (Paperback)
Taylor is a Professor of Philosophy at McGill. He is a Catholic and his book is written from a Christian view of what human beings owe the society in which they live. He calls for us to be dignigied in how we conduct ourselves, how we present ourselves - a much overlooked virtue in today's world where "show and tell" is the watchword. For those seeking an acceptable way of life in today's blunt and plain speaking and acting world, this is a strong supporting brief.
Taylor's basic premise is that a "moral person" is just that - not because of what he or she does, but because of what they are - they are quite simply moral. Fidelity is basc platform and straight thinking is required. it is a truly marvellous book - though it requires concentrated thought - it is not an "easy read" but so much more than that.
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