1001Philosophers

Charles Taylor Quotes on Virtue

Charles Taylor is a Canadian philosopher and one of the most influential figures in late-twentieth-century political philosophy and the history of ideas. This page collects quotes attributed to Charles Taylor on the topic of virtue, drawn from across the philosopher's works.

Quotes

  • Attributed to Charles Taylor:

    “We are selves only in that certain issues matter for us.”

  • Attributed to Charles Taylor:

    “To know who I am is to know where I stand in moral space.”

  • Attributed to Charles Taylor:

    “The ideal of authenticity is a moral standard we may fail to meet, not an excuse for self-absorption.”

  • “To know who I am is a species of knowing where I stand. My identity is defined by the commitments and identifications which provide the frame or horizon within which I can try to determine from case to case what is good, or valuable, or what ought to be done, or what I endorse or oppose. In other words, it is the horizon within which I am capable of taking a stand.”

    Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity (ed. Cambridge University Press, 1992) - ISBN: 9780521429498