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Interpreting ModernityEssays on the Work of Charles Taylor |
eBook Available
A comprehensive appraisal of Charles Taylor's philosophical writings by some of the most prominent contemporary philosophers and political theorists.
There are few philosophical questions to which Charles Taylor has not devoted his attention. His work has made powerful contributions to our understanding of action, language, and mind. He has had a lasting impact on our understanding of the way in which the social sciences should be practised, taking an interpretive stance in opposition to dominant positivist methodologies.
Taylor's powerful critiques of atomistic versions of liberalism have redefined the agenda of political philosophers. He has produced prodigious intellectual histories aiming to excavate the origins of the way in which we have construed the modern self, and of the complex intellectual and spiritual trajectories that have culminated in modern secularism. Despite the apparent diversity of Taylor's work, it is driven by a unified vision. Throughout his writings, Taylor opposes reductive conceptions of the human and of human societies that empiricist and positivist thinkers from David Hume to B.F. Skinner believed would lend rigour to the human sciences. In their place, Taylor has articulated a vision of humans as interpretive beings who can be understood neither individually nor collectively without reference to the fundamental goods and values through which they make sense of their lives.
The contributors to this volume, all distinguished philosophers and social theorists in their own right, offer critical assessments of Taylor's writings. Taken together, they provide the reader with an unrivalled perspective on the full extent of Charles Taylor's contribution to modern philosophy.
Taylor's powerful critiques of atomistic versions of liberalism have redefined the agenda of political philosophers. He has produced prodigious intellectual histories aiming to excavate the origins of the way in which we have construed the modern self, and of the complex intellectual and spiritual trajectories that have culminated in modern secularism. Despite the apparent diversity of Taylor's work, it is driven by a unified vision. Throughout his writings, Taylor opposes reductive conceptions of the human and of human societies that empiricist and positivist thinkers from David Hume to B.F. Skinner believed would lend rigour to the human sciences. In their place, Taylor has articulated a vision of humans as interpretive beings who can be understood neither individually nor collectively without reference to the fundamental goods and values through which they make sense of their lives.
The contributors to this volume, all distinguished philosophers and social theorists in their own right, offer critical assessments of Taylor's writings. Taken together, they provide the reader with an unrivalled perspective on the full extent of Charles Taylor's contribution to modern philosophy.
Details
344 Pages, 6 x 9
ISBN 9780228001430
October 2020
Formats: Cloth, Paperback, eBook
"In the contemporary philosophical landscape, Charles Taylor is a towering figure. Based on the classic idea that humans are self-interpreting animals, he has developed a systematic and historically situated body of work ranging from the philosophy of mind and language to central issues of political philosophy such as multiculturalism and secularism. The superb essays in this volume by a group of remarkable thinkers shed new light on Taylor's unique oeuvre. An essential conversation about the Geist of our age." Rainer Forst, Goethe University Frankfurt
Daniel M. Weinstock is James McGill Professor in the Faculty of Law and director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy, McGill University.
Jacob T. Levy is Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory and founding director, Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom and Global Orders in the Ancient and Modern Worlds at McGill University.
Jocelyn Maclure is professor of philosophy at Université Laval.
Jacob T. Levy is Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory and founding director, Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom and Global Orders in the Ancient and Modern Worlds at McGill University.
Jocelyn Maclure is professor of philosophy at Université Laval.
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
Charles Taylor: A Biographical Sketch 3
DANIEL M. WEINSTOCK, JACOB T. LEVY, AND JOCELYN MACLURE
PART ONE
Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, and Philosophy of Language
1 To Follow a Rule: Lessons from Baby Logic 21
SHAUN GALLAGHER
2 Charles Taylor’s Conception of Language and the Current Debate about Theory of Meaning 36
HANS J. SCHNEIDER
3 Taylor’s Engaged Pluralism 49
RICHARD J. BERNSTEIN
PART TWO
Religion and Modernity
4 State-Religion Connections and Multicultural Citizenship 65
TARIQ MODOOD
5 Taylor, Rawls, and Secularism 82
RONALD BEINER
PART THREE
Moral Agency and the Self I
6 What If Anything Is Wrong with Positive Liberty? The Struggles of Agency in a Non-Ideal World 95
JOHN CHRISTMAN
7 What’s Right with Positive Liberty: Agency, Autonomy, and the Other 114
NANCY J. HIRSCHMANN
PART FOUR
The Interpretation of Modernity
8 Whatever Happened to the Ontic Logos? German Idealism and the Legitimacy of Modernity 127
MICHAEL ROSEN
9 Taylor, Fullness, and Vitality 138
WILLIAM E. CONNOLLY
PART FIVE
Moral Agency and the Self II
10 Self-Creation or Self-Discovery? 151
KWAME ANTHONY APPIAH
11 An Explicitative Conception of Moral Theory 160
JOSEPH HEATH
12 Charles Taylor and Ethical Naturalism 182
NIGEL DESOUZA
PART SIX
Political Philosophy, Recognition, and Multiculturalism
13 Protecting Freedom of Religion in the Secular Age 197
CÉCILE LABORDE
14 Two Conceptions of Indian Secularism 207
RAJEEV BHARGAVA
15 Memory, Multiculturalism, and the Sources of Democratic Solidarity 228
MICHELE MOODY-ADAMS
PART SEVEN
Canadian Politics
16 Recognition in Its Place 247
JEREMY WEBBER
Conclusion
A Conversation between Charles Taylor, Jacob T. Levy, Daniel M. Weinstock, and Jocelyn Maclure 265
Notes 291
Bibliography 321
Contributors 337
Index 343
Introduction
Charles Taylor: A Biographical Sketch 3
DANIEL M. WEINSTOCK, JACOB T. LEVY, AND JOCELYN MACLURE
PART ONE
Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, and Philosophy of Language
1 To Follow a Rule: Lessons from Baby Logic 21
SHAUN GALLAGHER
2 Charles Taylor’s Conception of Language and the Current Debate about Theory of Meaning 36
HANS J. SCHNEIDER
3 Taylor’s Engaged Pluralism 49
RICHARD J. BERNSTEIN
PART TWO
Religion and Modernity
4 State-Religion Connections and Multicultural Citizenship 65
TARIQ MODOOD
5 Taylor, Rawls, and Secularism 82
RONALD BEINER
PART THREE
Moral Agency and the Self I
6 What If Anything Is Wrong with Positive Liberty? The Struggles of Agency in a Non-Ideal World 95
JOHN CHRISTMAN
7 What’s Right with Positive Liberty: Agency, Autonomy, and the Other 114
NANCY J. HIRSCHMANN
PART FOUR
The Interpretation of Modernity
8 Whatever Happened to the Ontic Logos? German Idealism and the Legitimacy of Modernity 127
MICHAEL ROSEN
9 Taylor, Fullness, and Vitality 138
WILLIAM E. CONNOLLY
PART FIVE
Moral Agency and the Self II
10 Self-Creation or Self-Discovery? 151
KWAME ANTHONY APPIAH
11 An Explicitative Conception of Moral Theory 160
JOSEPH HEATH
12 Charles Taylor and Ethical Naturalism 182
NIGEL DESOUZA
PART SIX
Political Philosophy, Recognition, and Multiculturalism
13 Protecting Freedom of Religion in the Secular Age 197
CÉCILE LABORDE
14 Two Conceptions of Indian Secularism 207
RAJEEV BHARGAVA
15 Memory, Multiculturalism, and the Sources of Democratic Solidarity 228
MICHELE MOODY-ADAMS
PART SEVEN
Canadian Politics
16 Recognition in Its Place 247
JEREMY WEBBER
Conclusion
A Conversation between Charles Taylor, Jacob T. Levy, Daniel M. Weinstock, and Jocelyn Maclure 265
Notes 291
Bibliography 321
Contributors 337
Index 343
