The Self: As Defined by Charles Taylor

Ever since the human race developed the gift of sentience, we have long since been on a quest to discover who we are. After all, this is one of the defining traits that make us human. When an animal looks in a mirror, it does not recognize itself as an individual, but rather sees another member of its species. We are different, we see ourselves in the mirror, with all our flaws, insecurities, and doubts. Despite all of this we still achieve and thrive, for being human means that we are blessed with the infinite capacity for creativity. We can mold ourselves into anyone we want. So now the question becomes: “Who am I now? And what kind of person do I want to be?”

In the book, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity, Charles Taylor would argue that we are not left to make this choice by ourselves, but are instead governed by a number of external factors such as society, culture, religion, and even the time period in which we are living. He refers to this concept as the “modern identity”, and that it is this theory that grants us the ability to define who we are. Concurrently, the modern view of the human subject grants us ample freedom to construct a persona that is specific to ourselves. The challenge we face is that we are afforded so many options that it becomes overwhelming. There are so many facets of our personalities that we must consider, and so many sources that affect them that we can so easily veer of the path that we truly desire.

In a discussion regarding today’s society, there are certain subjects that are bound to come up more than others: the internet, social media, technology. The subject that one wouldn’t normally suspect, but is still the center of heated debate is freedom. Freedom is what giv...

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...iety where science and education are held in high regard instead of one that emphasizes superficial and materialistic qualities.

Being human, we will always have an underlying sense of curiosity. One of the most important questions that we have always strived to find the answer to is: “why do I exist?” Unfortunately, we are no closer to finding the answer than we were thousands of years ago because this is a question whose definition changes according to the time in which it was asked. What was perceived as true back then isn’t what is accepted now, and in the future our sensibilities will most certainly change. Inevitably, finding the answer is not what is important, but instead it is the struggle, our quest of trying to find out who we are that is.

Taylor, Charles. Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1992. Print.