In his perennially popular Massey lectures, now with an updated look, Charles Taylor focuses on the key modern concept of self-fulfilment, often attacked as the central support of what Christopher Lasch has called "the culture of narcissism." To Taylor, self-fulfilment, although often expressed in self-centred ways, isn't necessarily a rejection of traditional values and social commitment; it also reflects something authentic and valuable in modern culture. Only by distinguishing what is good in this modern striving from what is socially and politically dangerous, Taylor says, can our age be made to deliver its promise. Charles Taylor is a philosopher of broad reach and many talents, but his most striking talent is a gift for interpreting different traditions, cultures and philosophies to one another . . . [This book is] full of good things.
- NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Taylor's crystalline insights rescue us from the plague on both houses in the debate over modernity and its discontents.
- CHICAGO TRIBUNE Charles Taylor was the 1991 CBC Massey Lecturer. He is emeritus professor of philosophy at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He is also the author of the much acclaimed book, Sources of the Self. | 
