Sources of the Self : The Making of the Modern Identity

Harvard University Press, March 1989. Paper Back. New. Here is a timely reaction to the narrowness of the type of academic scholarship that has little effect on the world outside academia. Taylor, a long-time professor of philosophy at Oxford, examines and rearticulates the major strands of commitment and theory that converge to form our present perception of personhood. Unlike most modern moral philosophy, he is not so much elucidating what we think it is right to do, rather his focus is on what we perceive it is good to be. As can be expected, this is a broad, comprehensive study involving a tremendous amount of research and reflection which serves ultimately to show how Taylor's picture of the modern identity can shape our view of the moral predicament of our time. In the end, Taylor offers hope: ''There is a large element of hope. It is a hope I see implicit in Judeo-Christian theism (however terrible the record of its adherents in history), and its central promise of a divine affirmation of the human, more total than humans can ever attain unaided.'' 601 pp.