Charles Taylor "ethics Of Authenticity" Ch 1-2

Front 1

What are the three "malaises" of modernity that Taylor is going to discuss in this volume?

Back 1

1. Rampant, egotistical individualism (2)
2. The "primacy of instrumental reason" (5)
3. A decrease in participation in self-government leading to a "soft despotism" (9)

Front 2

What are three positive aspects of individualism?

Back 2

1. "We live in a world where people have a right to choose for themselves their own pattern of life" (2).
2. "People are no longer sacrificed to the demands of supposedly sacred orders that transcend them" (2).
3. These rights are defended by our legal systems (2).

Front 3

Why does Taylor think that modern freedom came about, in part, by discrediting the hierarchical orders of the universe as reflected in the hierachies of human society?

Back 3

Taylor thinks that freedom came in part from the discrediting of hierarchical orders because since people are no longer locked into their hierarchical places, they are free to choose their own places in life. (4-5)

Front 4

What is the "disenchantment of the world?"

Back 4

The disenchantment of the world is the result of discrediting the Great Chain of Being. People no longer see themselves as having a higher purpose than themselves. Taylor says, "things lost some of their magic" (3).

Front 5

What does Taylor mean by "flattens and narrows our lives?"

Back 5

By "flattens and narrows our lives," Taylor means that we no longer have a sense of belonging to some transcendent order. He says that a self-centered life has little sense of purpose or meaning. (4)

Front 6

What is "instrumental reason?"

Back 6

Instrumental reason is "the kind of rationality we draw on when we calculate the most economical means to a given end. Maximum efficiency, the best cost-output ration, is its measure of success" (5).

Front 7

How does instrumental reason threaten to "take over our lives?"

Back 7

It threatens to take over our lives by turning us all into numbers or means to an end. We become just part of cost-efficiency calculations. Some ideals such as love or friendship should not be quantified. (5)

Front 8

According to Taylor, how does technology contribute to the "flattening and narrowing" of our lives?

Back 8

Taylor says that technology contributes to the flattening and narrowing of our lives because we always seek a technological solution, even if another solution is appropriate. We become obsessed with technology rather than humanity. (6-7)

Front 9

What is contradictory and self-defeating about the relativist appeal to the moral ideal of authenticity?

Back 9

The relativist appeal is contradictory because it built on a moral ideal, even though it asserts that moral ideals are relative (17).

Front 10

Why do some thinkers want "to banish discussions about the good life to the margins of political debate"?

Back 10

Thinkers want to avoid discussions about “the good life” because they think a liberal society (the kind they promote) must be neutral about the nature of “the good life”, as it is relative (17-18).

Front 11

What is moral subjectivism, and why can't reason adjudicate moral disputes?

Back 11

Moral subjectivism is the view that moral positions are not related to reason or anything in the world, and are instead adopted by us on an individual level. As morality is not related to reason under this view, you can’t use reason to solve moral disputes (18).

Front 12

Why, according to Taylor, does the normal fashion of social science research obscure the importance of authenticity as a moral ideal?

Back 12

Social science research obscures the importance of authenticity by reducing it to a product of social changes (19-20).

Front 13

What is the advantage of explanations which focus on "non-moral" motivations?

Back 13

The advantage of “non-moral” explanations is that because they have little emotional or moral content, they can be considered “hard” and “scientific” (20).

Front 14

Why does Taylor think that "the affirmation of the power of choice as itself a good to be maximized is a deviant product of the ideal"?

Back 14

He thinks that choice for the sake of choice is a deviant product because it is an inauthentic expression of the ideal (21).

Front 15

Why does Taylor claim that his proposal is NOT a "carefully balanced trade-off"?

Back 15

Taylor claims his proposal is not a carefully balanced trade-off because it is an act of retrieving this ideal from its degraded state, not trying to find compromise (22).

Front 16

What three things does Taylor ask us to believe in order to engage in his "work of retrieval" of the ideal of authenticity?

Back 16

Taylor asks us to believe that authenticity is valid, that we can argue about this ideal, and that these arguments are significant. (23)

Front 17

Who are the great "theorists of revolution," and what did they propose?

Back 17

The great theorists are Marx and Weber. They believed that people “are utterly helpless in the face of the forces” (8) of society and that we are trapped in what Weber called the “iron cage” (8). They therefore propose that we dismantle the institutional structures such as the market and state in order to realize our full freedom.

Front 18

What is "soft depotism"?

Back 18

Soft despotism is a term Tocqueville coined to describe a government where everything is controlled by “an immense tutelary power over which the people have little control” (9). The government may be paternalistic and even hold elections but is controlled by a small group of individuals. This arises when people become alienated from the public sphere and become more self-centered.

Front 19

Why do Tocqueville and Taylor believe that soft depotism threatens our dignity as citizens?

Back 19

If Taylor and Tocqueville are correct about soft despotism than people lose the political liberty to control their own destiny. This degrades people’s dignity as “even the choices left would no longer be made by ourselves as citizens” (10).

Front 20

Does Taylor favor the position of Modernity's boosters or Modernity's knockers?

Back 20

Charles Taylor argues the “right path is neither that recommended by straight boosters nor that favored by outright knockers” (11) but also that the issue cannot be looked at as a simple trade off between advantages and costs of individualism but rather of how to steer these developments towards their greatest promise” (12).

Front 21

What three factors have obscured the importance of authenticity as a moral ideal?

Back 21

The three factors are the ideas that “a liberal society must be neutral on question of what constitutes a good life,” (17) moral subjectivism, and the normal fashion of social science explanation” (19) which looks to explain social phenomenon through large forces (like industrialization) rather than moral ideas.

Front 22

What is relativism?

Back 22

Relativism is the view that “everybody has his or her own “values,” and about these it is impossible to argue” (13). Relativism self-destructs because all arguments are relative to the person and choice alone cannot give something significance.

Front 23

How is this relativism related (allegedly) to the individualism Taylor described in chapter one?

Back 23

Taylor argues that “relativism was itself an offshoot of a form of individualism” and the idea that everyone has a right to develop their own form of life, grounded on their own sense of what’s really important” (14).

Front 24

What is the "powerful moral ideal" which is at work in the relativism which Bloom critques?

Back 24

The powerful moral idea at work in relativism is that of being true to yourself. This is causing people to feel called to develop their lives in the way they see fit. Relativism is also “grounded in a principle of mutual respect” (14). In other words, it is now looked upon as very personal decision as to what constitutes a good life and it would be disrespectful to challenge someone’s ideas.