Thesis advisor: Arthur Madigan / This dissertation is based on the claim that Taylor, in his immense philosophical writings, looks for the unifying forces, principles, and those desires in the human agent that can transform modern partial comprehension of reality into a new collage, i.e. a deeper and more meaningful picture of who we are and what is most essential for us. I argue that Taylor in his reflection on modernity adopts Hegel's concern for how to unite two ideals - radical freedom and expressive fullness. In search for an answer to Hegel's concern, Taylor repeatedly comes to the same conclusion. Adequate understanding of modernity, moral sources of modern identity, human agency, and human language, requires insertion in its context; therefore, the description of time, space, and other factors that condition modernity, is crucial. There are some aspects in Taylor's reflection on modernity that either preclude or impede the modern agent's search for fulfillment and freedom (i.e., reduction of the human sciences to the principles of the natural sciences), or open neglected or undiscovered perspectives for investigation, and offer new answers (i.e., challenge of achieving peaceful coexistence in a multicultural society). Underneath these aspects of modernity, Taylor perceives human desire to be free, authentic, and fulfilled. In the recent publications, Taylor brings into focus the closed horizons of modernity in the field of religion, especially the mainstream secularization theory. As long as modernity considers religion and spirituality as unimportant and pushes them aside from our daily life, it effectively closes off some possible answers regarding agent's fulfilment, flourishing, and freedom. It does not mean that every form of religious practice and belief brings us automatically to the goal; some might be narrow and exclusive as well, and therefore have to be examined in turn. Taylor's reflection unfolds the answer to Hegel's concern only gradually. In order to be free, fulfilled, and have a meaningful life, no dimension of human existence can be excluded, all dimensions remain to be examined. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Philosophy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_101812 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Svetelj, Tone |
| Publisher | Boston College |
| Source Sets | Boston College |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, thesis |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. |
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