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Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity

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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.

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

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.

Por fin alguien nos explicó lo que nos perdimos mientras dormiamos en clase de filosofía. Sigue así

After having long-suffered the hyped-up mumbojumbo of all that post-structuralist goobledegook and/or boring and infuriating cryptophila that has been running rampant in philosophy for years now, it's always a pleasure to find a book of philosophy filled with complex and beautiful ideas that you can actually read and perhaps even understand. Not that it's always an easy task grasping the multitude of relationships between the ideas that he outlines as constituting our notions of modern selfhood. But since such an undertaking is expressed so eloquently and thoroughly in this sprawling tome, "Sources of the Self" seems more than worth the trouble. If, like me, you're tired of all those knuckleheads spouting mindless half-understood deconstructionist platitudes and whatnot...buy this book! Taylor is good...damn good!

Taylor offers us an invigorating critique of the Western individualist tradition since the 17th century. His work focuses on how the Judeo-Christian tradition has been dismantled bit-by-bit as rationality has taken its place. This dynamic has left us with a "desiccated" self (e.g., no role for spirituality or grace). Taylor tells us that what is missing are powers of creative imagination and the substantive goods of ordinary life, but he does not reconcile these with the developments he critiques. Instead of sending us back to our religious roots or offering a new perspective, he leaves us asking the question we had on page 1: what gives life meaning in the 21st century.