Ethics of What?
As I read, and re-read, and attempted to re-read the assigned pages, there was one concept or topic that stood out most to me. It was not the topic of authenticity, because truthfully I did not quite comprehend what the author’s concrete and final main point was on the idea, but it was the topic of individualism and its effect in modern life that stood out to me most.
Taylor explains in the text that there are three main sources causing the decline in modern society. These are: individualism, instrumental reason, and political life. It should not be completely foreign news that modern society is often being described as the “me generation,” which has caused some worrying in terms of the cause of decline in modern life. On the bright side, society as a whole has reached the ability to focus on the self and to make decisions on their own, as individuals. In fact, Taylor states, “Very few people want to go back on this achievement. Indeed, many think that it is still incomplete…” This is but a small example of how despite the level of individualism that has been attained in today’s society, we as humans still crave more of the “me” in more aspects of life.
This freedom, however, came to us at a the expense of something else. As Taylor states, “Modern freedom came about through the discrediting of such orders.” These orders include those such as the church and other hierarchical and spiritual institustions. The problem then that arose is that, although this brought upon greater freedom, these orders gave meaning to life and as these orders were discredited, “Things lost some magic.” (pg. 3) Consequently, the disregarding of these orders and institutions have in a sense, narrowed our field of vision, by giving us a simplistic viewpoint, and therefore has somewhat taken from the meaning of life or in other words it has given us nothing to look forward to or hold on to in the times we may need it the most. This then, becomes a problem because as things lose meaning in life, people tend to forget about their concerns, which may appear as a good thing on the surface, but in reality it’s a result of losing sight of what’s truly at stake. Aside from the discrediting of these orders, industrial and technological advances have also narrowed or decreased our interpretation of the world and are consequently taking away from what gives meaning to our lives. As a result, many people living in modern society fear that due to the increased public interest in the self, others will lose sense of their morals.
Taylor then goes on and explains what he believes is the second source of decline in modern society, which is instrumental reason. Instrumental reason according to Taylor is the idea of acting or thinking in a way that works towards coming up with the solution to the unidentified problem. The concept of instrumental reason however, can also be conflicting in that although it can be liberating, it has also taken from our lives by justifying issues such as wealth disparities and the insensitivity to the environment and its problems. Instrumental reasoning can also be seen in our industrial and technological societies as we often find ourselves trying to solve a large number of our problems with even more technology. Another example that shows how instrumental reason has taken away from is is that in terms of the medical field as Taylor states, “The technological approach in medicine has often sidelined the kind of care that involves treating the patient as a whole person with a life story, and not as the locus of a technical problem.” In short, this states how the mentality of solely trying to come up with a solution to a given problem has almost damaged our sense of humanity. In order to see a change in this second source of worrying, not only individuals, but institutions must cooperate, leading to the third source that is causing the worrying about the decline in modern society.
The third source of this worry, according to Taylor is that of which is on the political level. By this, the author is referring to the idea that, “The institutions and structures of industrial-technological society severely restrict our choices, that they force societies as well as individuals to give a weight to instrumental reason that in serious moral deliberation we would never do, and which may even be highly destructive” This kind of goes back to the statement presented in the beginning of his writing, which says that as a “me generation,” we still want more and so we believe that our achievement of reading individual and decision-making freedom is not complete.
While I was reading the beginning of the text, I couldn’t help but immediately disagree with the statement that our modern society was experiencing a “decline.” As I continued to read the segment that speaks about individualism, however, I began to change my mind and slowly agree with Taylor. When we discredit or no longer take into consideration the word of higher orders or institutions, sure this grants us more freedom of decision-making, but it also takes away something very special. It takes away from our ability to believe in something or to turn our pain and grievances towards something or someone who is greater than us. If we do not have something to look forward to such as this, we begin to realize that we become closed-minded and soon enough, deep meaning slowly begins to disappear from things we didn’t even realize it existed in. This relates to Taylor’s point that, “things have significance not of themselves but because people deem them to have it — as though people could determine what is significant, either by decision, or perhaps unwittingly and unwillingly by just feeling that way.” The one way I was able to kind of make a connection with the term of authenticity was once again, in relation to individualism and its effect on morals as Taylor states that, “Authenticity is not focused on enough as a moral ideal as it should be and although we may have greater freedom, it comes at a cost such as losing a sense of meaning in life…” Perhaps if young adults were better informed or even introduced to the concept of authenticity as a moral ideal, we would have less people wondering and asking themselves about meaning in life.
Though it may not completely connect with this idea of individualism that I referred to throughout this post, I will end this reflection with one of Taylor’s quotes that truly stood out to me. Taylor says, “What we need to explain is what is peculiar to our time. It’s not just that people sacrifice their love relationships, and the care of their children, to pursue their careers. Something like this has perhaps always existed. The point is that today many people feel called to do this, feel they ought to do this, feel their lives would be somehow wasted or unfulfilled if they didn’t do it.” This mentality of feeling fulfillment only in success is one that is undeniably common in our modern society. Consequently, this leads to the concept of sacrifice becoming something that is no longer authentic and in turn, sacrificing relationships and interaction with other human beings becomes something that no longer has the same meaning as it did before.
