3 Review(s)

Charles Taylor applies his ideas on language and epistemology to social theory and political problems. In this book he brings together some of his essays, including "Overcoming Epistemology", "The Validity of Transcendental Argument", "Irreducibly Social Goods" and "The Politics of Recognition". His arguments are trenchant, straddling the length and breadth of contemporary philosophy and public discourse. The strongest theme running through the book is Taylor's critique of disengagement, instrumental reason and atomism: that individual instances of knowledge, judgement, discourse or action cannot be intelligible in abstraction from the outside world. By developing his arguments about the importance of "engaged agency", Taylor simultaneously addresses themes in philosophical debate and in a broader discourse of political theory and cultural studies. The 13 essays in this collection reflect most of the concerns with which he has been involved throughout his career - language, ideas of the self, political participation and the nature of modernity.