One of the most influential philosophers in the English-speaking world, Charles Taylor is internationally renowned for his contributions to political and moral theory, particularly to debates about identity formation, multiculturalism, secularism, and modernity. In Modern Social Imaginaries, Taylor continues his recent reflections on the theme of multiple modernities. To account for the differences among modernities, Taylor sets out his idea of the social imaginary, a broad understanding of the way a given people imagine their collective social life. Re-telling the history of Western modernity, Taylor traces the development of a distinct social imaginary. Animated by the idea of a moral order based on the mutual benefit of equal participants, the Western social imaginary is characterized by three key cultural forms--the economy, the public sphere, and self-governance.Taylor's account of these cultural formations provides a fresh perspective on how to read the specifics of Western modernity: how we came to imagine society primarily as an economy for exchanging goods and services to promote mutual prosperity, how we began to imagine the public sphere as a metaphorical place for deliberation and discussion among strangers on issues of mutual concern, and how we invented the idea of a self-governing people capable of secular "founding" acts without recourse to transcendent principles. Accessible in length and style, Modern Social Imaginaries offers a clear and concise framework for understanding the structure of modern life in the West and the different forms modernity has taken around the world.
Charles Taylor is Board of Trustees Professor of Law and Philosophy at Northwestern University, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Philosophy at McGill University, and former Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at Oxford University. He is the author of many books and articles, including Varieties of Religion Today: William James Revisited; Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity; The Ethics of Authenticity; Hegel; and the essay "The Politics of Recognition," which appeared in Multiculturalism (edited by Amy Gutmann).
Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1 The Modern Moral Order 3 2 What Is a "Social Imaginary"? 23 3 the Specter of idealism 31 4 The Great Disembedding 49 5 The Economy as Objectified Reality 69 6 The Public Sphere 83 7 Public and Private 101 8 The Sovereign People 109 9 An All-Pervasive Order 143 10 The Direct-Access Society 155 11 Agency and Objectification 163 12 Modes of Narration 175 13 The Meaning of Secularity 185 14 Provincializing Europe 195 Notes 197
Offers a clear and concise framework for understanding the structure of modern life in the West and the different forms modernity has taken around the world
"A pleasingly crunchy essay." The Guardian "Charles Taylor presents a fundamental challenge to neo-liberal apologists for the new world order - but not only to them. Anyone who wishes, as I do, to defend trans-cultural political ideals, notions of development, or the like, will have to face his formidable array of hermeneutically inspired reflections on Western modernity's defining cultural formations. His particular take on the 'social imaginary' makes the strongest case there is for the idea of 'multiple modernities.'" Thomas McCarthy, Northwestern University Charles Taylor's new book continues his project of erudite investigations into the origins of the modern sense of self... The author's breadth of learning and humanistic disposition constitute a rare fusion of qualities in the current climate of intellectual warfare..." Montreal Book Review, "As always with Taylor, the writing is marked by erudition, elegance, and generosity of spirit. The book, while hardly mentioning Islam or other traditions, may be seen as a quietly understated thesis congruent with Samuel Huntington's more pointed reflections on 'the clash of civilizations.' " First Things
