•  40
    This article examines the 2008 report of the Quebec Government’s Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences which was co-authored by Charles Taylor. Summarizing its main themes, it identifies points of intersection with Taylor’s political thought. Issues of citizen equality, including gender equality, secularism, integration and interculturalism, receive special attention
  •  29
    Mediocrity versus meritocracy: Nietzsche's (mis)reading of Chamfort
    History of Political Thought 19 (3): 457-483. 1998.
    This article challenges the claim that Friedrich Nietzsche is a good reader of the French moralist, Chamfort, when it comes to Chamfort's politics. Chamfort is a meritocrat rather than the bitter egalitarian Nietzsche protrays him to be. Moreover, the moralist's meritocratic beliefs, his hopes for a new social order and the emergence of a new aristocracy resemble many of Nietzsche's own values. Had Nietzsche read Chamfort as a meritocrat, he could have found much to stimulate and clarify his own…Read more
  •  25
    Entry for Charles Taylor
    In John R. Shook & Richard T. Hull (eds.), The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, Thoemmes Continuum. pp. 1. 2005.
  •  21
    Continuing Questions about Friendship as a Central Moral Value
    Dialogue and Universalism 28 (2): 65-80. 2018.
    This article engages Friendship: A Central Moral Value by Michael H. Mitias. It questions Mitias’ distinction between friendship as a moral and theoretical concern as opposed to a practical one. It distinguishes the narrow from the wide meanings of philia in Aristotle’s approach. It looks at the resonances of classical approaches in later theories of friendship, while also attending to the innovations of later thinkers. It suggests that the moral paradigms Mitias delineates might not be as hegem…Read more
  •  17
    The Chief Inducement? The Idea of Marriage as Friendship
    with D. J. D. Uyl
    Journal of Applied Philosophy 18 (1): 37-52. 2002.
    A combination of social forces has thrown marriage into question in westernised societies at the end of the millennium. This uncertainty creates space for new ways of thinking about marriage. In this context, we examine the idea of marriage as friendship. We trace its genealogy in the work of Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor and then subject it to critical scrutiny using some of Michel de Montaigne’s ideas. We ask how applicable the ideal of higher friendship is to marria…Read more
  •  17
    While it is uncontroversial to point to the liberal roots of feminism, a major issue in English-language feminist political thought over the last few decades has been whether feminism's association with liberalism should be relegated to the past. Can liberalism continue to serve feminist purposes? This book examines the positions of three contemporary feminists - Martha Nussbaum, Susan Moller Okin and Jean Hampton - who, notwithstanding decades of feminist critique, are unwilling to give up on l…Read more
  •  16
    Freedom – A silent but significant thread across Taylor’s oeuvre
    Philosophy and Social Criticism 44 (7): 790-792. 2018.
    One important and consistent thread of Charles Taylor’s thought that has not yet received the attention it deserves is his philosophy of freedom. Taylor’s 1979 defense of positive liberty in response to Isaiah Berlin’s “Two Conceptions of Liberty” is, of course, well known. But there is a way of seeing reflection on freedom as a thread that runs, sometimes silently but always significantly, through his whole body of work. Taylor can be seen as asking what freedom means, how many varieties it has…Read more
  •  16
    Feminist Interpretations of John Rawls (edited book)
    Pennsylvania State University Press. 2013.
    In _Feminist Interpretations of John Rawls_, Ruth Abbey collects eight essays responding to the work of John Rawls from a feminist perspective. An impressive introduction by the editor provides a chronological overview of English-language feminist engagements with Rawls from his Theory of Justice onwards. She surveys the range of issues canvassed by feminist readers of Rawls, as well as critics’ wide disagreement about the value of Rawls’s corpus for feminist purposes. The eight essays that foll…Read more
  •  9
    The Articulated Life: An Interview with Charles Taylor
    Philosophy of Management 1 (3): 3-9. 2001.
    Charles Taylor is one of the most prolific and wide-ranging philosophers in the English-speaking world today. He writes with authority in the fields of moral theory, political philosophy, theories of language, the history of western thought, epistemology and hermeneutics.1 Currently an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at McGill University, he has enjoyed a distinguished academic career which includes being Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at Oxford University. He has also been a…Read more
  •  3
    Charles Taylor
    In John Shand (ed.), Central Works of Philosophy, Vol. 5: The Twentieth Century: Quine and After, Acumen Publishing. pp. 268-290. 2006.
  •  1
    Comparativists and cosmopolitans on cross cultural conversations
    Revista de Filosofía (México) 40 (121): 45-64. 2008.
    First published in 1990, Charles Taylor’s essay ‘Comparison, History Truth’ is an extended reflection on some of the problems involved in interpreting other cultures and eras. This essay’s explicit focus is the work of historians and anthropologists. Taylor mentions students of religion in the same breath, but I infer that by this he means students of comparative religions or the history of religions. I suggest that for all its emphasis on conversation, Taylor’s depiction of the comparativist…Read more
  • Friedrich Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography by Julian Young (review)
    Interpretation 38 (2): 171-176. 2011.
  • This chapter briefly reviews the link between Charles Taylor's life and work. It then discusses his position on the role of science in understanding human behavior. It concludes by considering the relationship between theory and practice in Taylor's thought.