Charles Taylor and the (modern) self

Abstract

The present paper tries to capture the ideas surrounding the problem of personal identity in some of the works of Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor. The basic assumption of this paper is the fact that Taylor attempts to solve three major modern identity crises: the first one is originated in the reductive image, projected by scientifical discourse, of human being as a "disengaged self" detached from its body, culture and language; the second crisis is related mostly to a nihilistic rejection of the cultural background in the name of a creative, self-referential individual; finally, the third one has its source in the refusal of the individuals to involve themselves in public space as a symptom of the growing alienation of the modern identity. Taylor offers instead, as an attempt to fight these crises, a philosophical anthropology and also an ambitious historical project of bringing to light those ideals that made modern identity. Finally, we try to show that Taylor's formula of the self, despite its hierarchical dimension based on the need for strong values, resembles more with a rhythm that seems flexible enough to combine hierarchy with the pressure of modern changing and fragmentation.