Philosopher Charles Taylor on Atomism

 In class (ECS), we have been considering the evolutions taking place in society which appear to be leading to growing fragmentation into separate and often opposing groups, or individual demands. This process has been underway for a long time, however. Below, in pdf format, is the chapter I mentioned, on this phenomenon, from a work called Philosophy and the Human Sciences, by the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor. It is dense but brilliant thinking, and as such needs careful attention, but it is most certainly rewarding. He takes us through the motivations and causes behind 'atomism' - a state of affairs in which the individual operates as a distinct 'particle' separate from an idea of a social reality at large which might subsume, delimit or define the person. Taylor's thinking brings us to question our unquestioning modern attachment to rights, which we take to be primary. We can talk about this in class, and you can of course leave comments on the blog for discussion. Click below for the essay: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1usVnbVcpssM5EX539P3tm-1j4LIELjpF/view?usp=sharing