The Philosophy of Charles Taylor : Schmittian distinctions, Augustinian grace and a language of the good
Date
1996
Authors
Pash, Sara Roberts
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Abstract
This thesis demonstrates that Taylor's philosophy, particularly in his Sources of the Self, occupies a site between the philosophy of Carl Schmitt and that of John Rawls et. al. As such, it opens up discussion regarding political distinctions, most notably the Schmittian distinction of friend and enemy. It is a discussion which has been effectively shut down by atomist liberal theories that give scant attention to the social nature of the human condition. While Taylor indirectly excavates 'the other', it is an otherness tempered with a respect for human dignity, articulation of this respect and it sources, and with a love of liberal democracy. It is also argued that Taylor's strong theistic premise, the fear of which has caused a number of his critics to caricature his message, is not a call to God, and should not act as a barrier to Taylor's many insights.