Raised in a bilingual family in Montreal, Taylor studied at Oxford with Isaiah Berlin and taught for decades at McGill. He also ran for Parliament several times as a social democrat. A practicing Catholic, he has written monumental histories of the modern self and of secularism, and has defended the recognition of cultural identities such as that of Quebec.
Core ideas
We become ourselves only through language and community, never alone
Modern identity grew from a long history of moral sources we often forget
Authenticity is a real ideal, but it needs horizons of meaning beyond the self
The tradition: Communitarian
Communitarianism criticizes liberal individualism for forgetting that people are shaped by communities and traditions. Taylor is its most historically minded thinker, close to MacIntyre but more open to modernity.
