Tag: Charles Taylor

What’s Wrong With Relativism? Charles Taylor’s Authenticity (Malaise 3-Audio)

December 13, 2020

This video discusses content from Chapters 4 and 5 of Charles Taylor’s The Malaise of Modernity (1991). Taylor patiently eviscerates contemporary vapid relativism as logically incoherent and socially destructive and discusses the inherently social nature of human beings. The consequences of claiming complete autonomy of choice based on our feelings include an inability to defend our positions and an ignorance about our true nature. The “complete autonomy” approach deprives us of the dialogue we need in our personal and social relationships that would help us make better choices in the pursuit of authenticity. … More What’s Wrong With Relativism? Charles Taylor’s Authenticity (Malaise 3-Audio)

The Ethic of Authenticity: Good, Bad or Both? Charles Taylor (Malaise 2-Audio)

December 5, 2020

In this podcast I discuss the modern idea authenticity as developed in chapters 2 and 3 of Charles Taylor’s “The Malaise of Modernity” (CBC Massey Lecture Series, 1991). Taylor thinks that the ethic of authenticity is separable from the moral relativism, emotivism and narcissism with which it is associated by authors like Allan Bloom and Christopher Lasch, and that it holds promise as a modern moral ideal if we can do so. In these two chapters he begins to excavate why American (including Canadian, though probably less so) culture took a turn into flabby relativism and narcissism and how we might excavate the original meaning of authenticity to see if it holds true promise. To that end, he discusses its Romantic origins in the ideas of Rousseau and Herder. Along the way, I relate some of Taylor’s ideas the work of Isaiah Berlin and Leo Strauss. … More The Ethic of Authenticity: Good, Bad or Both? Charles Taylor (Malaise 2-Audio)

The Ethic of Authenticity: Good, Bad or Both? Charles Taylor (Malaise 2-Video)

December 5, 2020

In this video I discuss the modern idea authenticity as developed in chapters 2 and 3 of Charles Taylor’s “The Malaise of Modernity” (CBC Massey Lecture Series, 1991). Taylor thinks that the ethic of authenticity is separable from the moral relativism, emotivism and narcissism with which it is associated by authors like Allan Bloom and Christopher Lasch, and that it holds promise as a modern moral ideal if we can do so. In these two chapters he begins to excavate why American (including Canadian, though probably less so) culture took a turn into flabby relativism and narcissism and how we might excavate the original meaning of authenticity to see if it holds true promise. To that end, he discusses its Romantic origins in the ideas of Rousseau and Herder. Along the way, I relate some of Taylor’s ideas the work of Isaiah Berlin and Leo Strauss. … More The Ethic of Authenticity: Good, Bad or Both? Charles Taylor (Malaise 2-Video)

Introduction to Charles Taylor’s The Malaise of Modernity (Audio)

November 30, 2020

Charles Taylor’s brief book, The Malaise of Modernity, published in 1991, identifies three worries that lead to a general malaise–a feeling of being lost or being in decline, feelings that are pervasive today. These worries stem from the problems associated with individualism, instrumental rationality and a decay of politics. All three are tied together. Unlike some other authors who also deal with these problems, Taylor sets out to see if there is any way that the true benefits that have developed from these three phenomena can be separated from their evils, and whether and how we can get out from under the domination of a new kind of authority stemming from technical rationality itself–the tutelary power of “soft despotism.” The ideas of Tocqueville, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are briefly touched on because Taylor references them as indicative of elements of the malaise. … More Introduction to Charles Taylor’s The Malaise of Modernity (Audio)

Superseding Liberalism: Mouffe v. Communitarians (3-Audio)

May 24, 2020

This video covers chapter 2 of Chantal Mouffe’s The Return of the Political, where we learn how Mouffe agrees with Communitarians on some things, but ultimately wants to move beyond them and keep what is valuable about liberalism. Is Mouffe’s “thin community” good enough? Not sure, but we’ll see as we move through the rest of her argument. Some major Communitarians, Charles Taylor, Alasdaire MacIntyre, and Michael Sandel, are discussed in relation to Mouffe’s views. … More Superseding Liberalism: Mouffe v. Communitarians (3-Audio)

Superseding Liberalism: Mouffe v. Communitarians (3-Video)

May 24, 2020

This video covers chapter 2 of Chantal Mouffe’s The Return of the Political, where we learn how Mouffe agrees with Communitarians on some things, but ultimately wants to move beyond them and keep what is valuable about liberalism. Is Mouffe’s “thin community” good enough? Not sure, but we’ll see as we move through the rest of her argument. Some major Communitarians, Charles Taylor, Alasdaire MacIntyre, and Michael Sandel, are discussed in relation to Mouffe’s views. … More Superseding Liberalism: Mouffe v. Communitarians (3-Video)

What Would Carl Jung Think of Capitalism and Automation? A reading from my latest article. (Audio)

December 16, 2019

This is a segment of a longer article I wrote for Harbinger: Journal of Social Ecology that was published in October 2019. It’s entitled “Jordan Peterson, Carl Jung, and the Challenge for Social Ecology.” The first part of the article is a critique of the limitations of Peterson’s political stands, which will take about 10 minutes to read, but much of the article explores a comparison of the ideas of Social Ecology founder Murray Bookchin and psychologist Carl Jung. This segment is on Jung’s political ideas with a little help from some of Charles Taylor’s concepts. Reflecting on Peterson’s take on politics, we find that Carl Jung’s ideas on what causes ideological extremism is quite a bit more penetrating as he goes back to the Enlightenment and trends like industrialization and urbanization as the underlying causes of dangerous ideological movements, dehumanizing economics and overbearing governments. Here’s the link to the article. https://harbinger-journal.com/issue-1/jordan-peterson-carl-jung-and-the-challenge-for-social-ecology/
… More What Would Carl Jung Think of Capitalism and Automation? A reading from my latest article. (Audio)

What Would Carl Jung Think of Capitalism and Automation? A reading from my latest article.

December 16, 2019

This is a segment of a longer article I wrote for Harbinger: Journal of Social Ecology that was published in October 2019. It’s entitled “Jordan Peterson, Carl Jung, and the Challenge for Social Ecology.” The first part of the article is a critique of the limitations of Peterson’s political stands, which will take about 10 minutes to read, but much of the article explores a comparison of the ideas of Social Ecology founder Murray Bookchin and psychologist Carl Jung. This segment is on Jung’s political ideas with a little help from some of Charles Taylor’s concepts. Reflecting on Peterson’s take on politics, we find that Carl Jung’s ideas on what causes ideological extremism is quite a bit more penetrating as he goes back to the Enlightenment and trends like industrialization and urbanization as the underlying causes of dangerous ideological movements, dehumanizing economics and overbearing governments. Here’s the link to the article. https://harbinger-journal.com/issue-1/jordan-peterson-carl-jung-and-the-challenge-for-social-ecology/ … More What Would Carl Jung Think of Capitalism and Automation? A reading from my latest article.

Emptiness and Its Consequences: MacIntyre on “Emotivism” (Audio)

October 20, 2019

In Chapters 2 and 3 of MacIntyre’s After Virtue, we learn what “emotivism” is and why MacIntyre dislikes it. In particular, he identifies emotivism as the primary way people now think about moral arguments, and he blames emotivism for our inability to reach any moral agreement. Even more interestingly, he sees in the modern bureacratic/managerial organization an expression of emotivism that leads to a lack of agency and responsibility. This is because the emotivist “self” is basically empty–moving from feeling to feeling but with no real grounding–and this emptiness is then filled by stronger forces in society–political and commercial. MacIntyre argues that in a traditional society the self is filled by pre-ordained social roles–but is this any better? The latter is a question we’ll ask as we move on into MacIntyre’s defense of Aristotelian virtue ethics. … More Emptiness and Its Consequences: MacIntyre on “Emotivism” (Audio)