Description: Charles Taylor delves into the poetry of the Romantics and their heirs, a foundation of his distinctive philosophy of language. Taylor holds that Romantic poetry responded to disenchantment: with old cosmic orders depleted, artists groped to articulate new meanings by bringing connections to life rather than merely reasoning abstractly about life.
Brief description: Charles Taylor is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy at McGill University. Author of The Language Animal, Sources of the Self, The Ethics of Authenticity, and A Secular Age, he has received many honors, including the Templeton Prize, the Berggruen Prize, and membership in the Order of Canada.
Review Quotes: Traces how nineteenth-century poets conveyed experiences of the transhuman despite their growing sense of uncertainty about a perfect Adamic language and a providential natural order.--Lee Behlman "Studies in English Literature" (9/1/2025 12:00:00 AM)