Charles Taylor
Also known as Charles Margrave Taylor
Canadian philosopher, born 1931, of the self, modernity and secularity.
At a glance
Main ideas
Against naturalism, Background understanding, The social self …
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The Explanation of Behaviour, Sources of the Self, The Ethics of Authenticity …
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Isaiah Berlin, B. F. Skinner and The Ethics of Authenticity
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Taylor is a Canadian philosopher and professor emeritus at McGill University.
- He has written on political philosophy, the philosophy of social science and the history of ideas, critiquing naturalism and developing a hermeneutic view of the self.
- He is associated with the communitarian critique of liberalism.
- His books include Sources of the Self and A Secular Age.
Why it matters
- His accounts of the modern self, authenticity and secularity are among the most influential in contemporary philosophy.
Key facts
- Born
- 5 Nov 1931, Montreal, Quebec1
- Education
- BA in history, McGill (1952); Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford, BA in PPE (1955); DPhil, Oxford (1961), supervised by Isaiah Berlin1
- Career
- McGill University, now professor emeritus; Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at Oxford; Northwestern University1
- Public life
- Co-chaired the Bouchard–Taylor Commission on reasonable accommodation in Quebec (2007); NDP candidate in the 1960s1
- Honours
- Companion of the Order of Canada (1995); Templeton Prize (2007); Kyoto Prize (2008); Kluge Prize (2015, with Jürgen Habermas); Berggruen Prize1
Main ideas
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Against naturalism1
The study of human beings should not be modelled on the natural sciences.
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Background understanding1
Rules and representations make sense only against an unarticulated background of practices.
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The social self1
Individuals arise within societies, which liberal theory neglects.
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A secular age1
He argues against the thesis that modernity simply erodes religion.
Books to start with
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The Explanation of Behaviour1
His dissertation, a critique of behaviourist psychology.
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Sources of the Self1
The making of the modern identity.
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His 1991 Massey Lecture, The Malaise of Modernity.
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A Secular Age1
Religion and secularity in the modern world.
Connections
Links
Sources
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