ABSTRACT
Charles Taylor in Inwardness and the Culture of Modernity identifies a particularly modern philosophical problem. The problem that he identifies is that the modern disengaged self is based on a paradox. The paradox is that the disengaged, objective self of modernity is only comprehensible through a radical subjectivity; that self which is claimed to serve as a point for objective judgement is itself only accessible by the path of subjectivity. He says that: ' . .. this [modern, disengaged] self which emerges from the objectification of and separation from our given nature cannot be identified with anything in this given [our given nature]'. \ He further claims that 'this is the source of a continuing philosophical discomfort in modern times' and suggests that various solutions have been tried including reductionism, 'transcendental theories' and returns to dualism, but that the problem remains unresolved. This book seeks to address this key problem which is at the heart of many unresolved current issues. The proposed solution will show that this modern" antinomy" , identified by Taylor, reveals that such a basis for the self is incoherent, and also that an intersubjective theory of the self is required to resolve the" antinomy" . The strategy of resolution will be to develop a form of "transcendental" perspective that sets out the conditions for a reflexive self-identifying consciousness. The expressivist view proposed by Taylor himself will be discussed as a background to the major theme of transcendental theory, but it will be shown that such a theory is, in itself, inadequate.
