Comparing Saint Augustine and Charles Taylors Ideas of Authenticity Es

Comparing Saint Augustine and Charles Taylors Ideas of legitimacyThe notion of authenticity is whiz of self-fulfillment and Charles Taylor recognizes that there are dangers in accepting rawitys drive toward self-realisation. However, he is not will to give up on this composition of authenticity. In The Ethics of Authenticity, Taylor lays come in a system of thought and morals that connect our search for self-realization with our desire towards self-creation. He is attempting to keep a form of individualism bandage still operating under objectivism. He will point let on the good and damaging aspects of the modern development of an authentic self and mark the importance of some moral measurement system. Taylor claims that St. Augustine initiated a concept of inwardness, a turning towards the inner self to beget truth and the appraisal of authenticity is simply a further development of Augustines inwardness. In this stem I will discuss in detail Taylors idea of authenti city the pros and cons. I will lay out some of his arguments as to why he thinks this idea originated with Augustine. I will talk just about Augustines emplacement on the inner man and how this is connected with knowledge and memory. I will then talk about some of Augustines views. Freedom is also an important aspect to moral conduct so I will explore both Taylors and Augustines view of freedom. Finally, I will argue that the ideal of authenticity (although it contains some truth) is not an ideal that Augustine would promote. Three Modern WorriesTaylor begins the book by discussing three worries of modern society. The first is individualism which is selfish and self-centered. The modern concept is bformer(a)some because the great unwashed see freedom as undeterminedning the chains of traditional notions of power structure. We put up become a society where we are breaking a direction from old(a) moral horizons. Everything in creation is connected in some way and when there is a loose hierarchy there follows a loose nitty-gritty of life. The dark side of individualism the focuses on the self in such a way that it flattens and narrows the framework which give significance and meaning to human life. The second trouble is the dominant attention given to slavish reason. Instrumental reason values efficiency above all other goods. Nothing else is considered sacred or has intrinsic value, only extrinsic value. The query is how usef... ...y for us humans. I think it is, but only to the extent that we broadcast ourselves to God, which means in fact, overstepping the limits set in theory by grievous bodily harm humanisms. Taylors idea of authenticity does give way to many warnings. It is similar to walking a tight rope. If one leans too much to one side (which in all reality may not be much at all) it can lead to disaster. He adopts a down from the Romantics and the focus is too much on the individual. Although he does try to come in away from too much emp hasis on the individual by mentioning the horizons of significance he still does not give us an idea of what this hierarchy consists. People may look inside themselves to formulate this hierarchy but this again can lead to subjectivism. It seems to suggest that there could be a variety of heirachies and who is to say that one is better than the other. Also the ambiguity of his idea of freedom only leads to more ambiguity on his idea of authenticity. These are all problems that Taylor must address if one is to get a clearer concept of his project. If Saint Augustine were to read Taylor I think he would find these worries and suggest that Taylors central focus should be on God.