Sources of the Self

Taylor argues that we are never completely neutral thinkers because our reasoning is shaped by beliefs about what makes life meaningful and worthwhile. We can recognize these "moral sources" through what moves us, what we admire, and what we are willing to sacrifice for.

He suggests that modernity often presents values like success, productivity, status, and achievement as neutral or self-evident, when they are actually historically and culturally shaped visions of the "good life." Full title: Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity.

Charles Taylor is a Canadian philosopher, professor emeritus at McGill, and author of A Secular Age.