Ideas from 'Sources of the Self' by Charles Taylor [1989], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Sources of the Self' by Taylor,Charles [CUP 1992,0-521-42949-8]].

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16. Persons / A. Concept of a Person / 4. Persons as Agents

4020	The modern self has disengaged reason, self-exploration, and personal commitment

			Full Idea: The modern notion of the self is defined by disengaged reason (with its associated freedom and dignity), by self-exploration, and by personal commitment.
			From: Charles Taylor (Sources of the Self [1989], §13.1)
			A reaction: Taylor makes a good case that this broader view of how the self is seen is as important as narrow debates about personal identity.

16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 2. Ethical Self

4002	My aim is to map the connections between our sense of self and our moral understanding

			Full Idea: My entire way of proceeding involves mapping connections between the sense of the self and moral visions, between identity and the good.
			From: Charles Taylor (Sources of the Self [1989], Pref)
			A reaction: An interesting project. Modern brain research supports the idea that emotions and values are tightly integrated into al thought.

16. Persons / E. Rejecting the Self / 3. Narrative Self

4006	I can only be aware of myself as a person who changes by means of my personal history

			Full Idea: As a being who grows and becomes I can only know myself through the history of my maturations and regressions, overcomings and defeats.
			From: Charles Taylor (Sources of the Self [1989], §2.3)
			A reaction: An important insight. My immediate sense of self makes my personal history central, not an extra. But a history must be a history OF something.

22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / b. Defining ethics

4003	Selfhood and moral values are inextricably intertwined

			Full Idea: Selfhood and the good, or in another way selfhood and morality, turn out to be inextricably intertwined.
			From: Charles Taylor (Sources of the Self [1989], §1.1)
			A reaction: This seems an inevitable convergence of three centuries of thought about personal identity and morality.

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 3. Virtues / e. Honour

4021	Willingness to risk life was the constitutive quality of the man of honour

			Full Idea: Willingness to risk life was the constitutive quality of the man of honour.
			From: Charles Taylor (Sources of the Self [1989], §13.1)
			A reaction: Which is why war is required. The growth of civil society meant the inevitable rise of other virtues.

23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 3. Virtues / h. Respect

4005	To have respect for people, you must feel their claims, or their injustices, or hold them in awe

			Full Idea: If you want to discriminate more finely what makes humans worthy of respect, you must call to mind the claim of human suffering, or what is repugnant about justice, or the awe you feel about human life.
			From: Charles Taylor (Sources of the Self [1989], §1.1)
			A reaction: A persuasive part of the claim that such feelings are inseparable from thinking about people in any way at all.

23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 4. Categorical Imperative

4004	Consistency presupposes intrinsic description

			Full Idea: The issue of consistency presupposes intrinsic description.
			From: Charles Taylor (Sources of the Self [1989], §1.1)
			A reaction: This may be the key criticism of Kant. The so-called 'maxim' of an action can be almost infinitely re-expressed to suit the agent.

23. Ethics / E. Utilitarianism / 1. Utilitarianism

4010	In later utilitarianism the modern stress on freedom leads to the rejection of paternalism

			Full Idea: In mature utilitarianism , the stress on modern freedom emerges in the rejection of paternalism.
			From: Charles Taylor (Sources of the Self [1989], §3.3)
			A reaction: This seems good; it is the beginnings of a rejection of paternalism. What is better, happiness or freedom? What is the value of freedom?

28. God / A. Divine Nature / 6. Divine Morality / d. God decrees morality

4009	Nominalists defended the sovereignty of God against the idea of natural existing good and evil

			Full Idea: Late medieval nominalism defended the sovereignty of God as incompatible with there being an order in nature which by itself defined good and bad.
			From: Charles Taylor (Sources of the Self [1989], §3.3)
			A reaction: Part of their attack on Platonism. But what made them place such a high value on the sovereignty of God?