The Communitarian Critique of Liberalism: A Critical Comparison of Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self and Alisdair MacIntyre's After Virtue.

Abstract

<p>This thesis examines the political philosophy of Charles Taylor and Alisdair Macintyre. In particular this thesis focuses on Taylor's Sources of the Self and Macintyre's After Virtue. These two books represent a major contribution to what has become known as the communitarian critique of liberalism. This thesis examines four fundamental aspects of the communitarian critique. The first aspect examined is the communitarian contention that liberal theory fundamentally misunderstands the nature of identity and selfhood. The second aspect examined is the communitarian assertion that liberal theory, with its focus on individual rights and autonomy, undennines community. The third aspect of the communitarian critique examined is its claim that liberalism's neutrality on questions of the good conceals the important role that notions of the good play in the moral life of the individual. Finally this thesis looks at Taylor and MacIntyre's description of modern moral discourse.</p> <p>This thesis examines these four key communitarian concerns and posits potential liberal responses to all four. In this thesis two possible liberal responses come to the fore in response to almost all of Taylor and Macintyre's concerns. The first liberal response argues that Taylor and Macintyre describe and attack a hyperKantian definition of liberalism held by no actual liberal. The second key liberal response argues that the role Taylor and MacIntyre see the public sphere playing in individua1's lives is more than adequately fulfilled by the private sphere. This thesis concludes by arguing that Sources of the Self and After Virtue are best read as critiques of the social and philosophical vagaries of modem liberalism and not as actual alternatives to liberalism.</p>