Philosophize This! — Episode 239: Authenticity and the History of the Self (Charles Taylor)

Host: Stephen West
Date: October 17, 2025
Key Theme: Tracing the historical evolution of the concept of “authenticity” and the self in the Western philosophical tradition, with a focus on Charles Taylor’s contributions.

Brief Overview

In this episode, Stephen West examines Charles Taylor’s influential ideas on authenticity, as presented in his book Sources of the Self. The episode explores how the meaning of the “self” and the ideal of authenticity have evolved over centuries, shaped by pivotal historical moments, philosophical movements, and cultural shifts. West dissects Taylor’s argument that our modern focus on authenticity is neither timeless nor simple, but rather the product of a complex genealogy influenced by ancient, religious, Enlightenment, and Romantic thought. The episode also grapples with common misunderstandings and critiques of authenticity, including its association with narcissism and its misuse as mere subjective preference.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Defining Authenticity in Modernity

• Main Idea: Charles Taylor claims that authenticity is the “moral ideal of the modern world.”
• Cultural Example: Today, being “authentic” (e.g., “Be yourself!”) is widely seen as a marker of a good person (00:25).
• Critical Voices: Detractors (e.g., Byung Chul Han) argue that this focus is narcissistic or a neoliberal “sales pitch” to treat oneself as a product (01:35).
• Taylor’s View: Authenticity is genuine moral progress if properly understood, not just a trap or a mask for self-obsession (02:15).

2. The Genealogy of the Self (Taylor’s Method)

• Taylor’s Approach: Tracing historical “assumptions people are making at each point in history about the self” to comprehend why people today value authenticity (03:00).
• Key Question: “How do they view who and what they are? How do they relate to the things around them?” (03:15).

3. Key Historical Moments in the Development of the Self

a. Ancient Athens: The Self As Role (04:00–09:40)

• Morality tied to social and cosmic order.
• People identified more with their civic/familial/community roles than as individuals (“I am Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes of Pania.” (07:00)).
• Quote: “People from this time saw the self mostly in terms of the relationships to other people and causes bigger than just them.” (09:10)
• Morality: Correct action meant alignment with cosmic order (maintained by gods or divine logos).

b. St. Augustine & Christianity: The Inner Turn (09:50–13:08)

• Christianity introduced equality and universal dignity—every soul equally loved by God.
• Shift to valuing internal organization—how one’s inner life aligns with God’s will rather than mere outward actions.
• Quote: “Inside each of us is this equal ability to choose to live morally or not.” (11:35)
• Morality becomes focused on the internal experience and intent, not just roles or actions.

c. The Protestant Reformation: Ordinary Life Gains Value (13:12–16:49)

• With the Bible accessible in local languages, individuals began to interpret the faith for themselves.
• Ordinary life (family, labor) held the same moral value as religious devotion if conducted morally.
• Insight: “If you live that kind of life after the Reformation…there is nothing worse about that life than if you dedicated every second of that time to the Church.” (15:20)

d. The Enlightenment: Disengaged Reason (16:51–22:50)

• Descartes’ mind-body dualism: The self as a neutral observer of the world—and of oneself.
• Rise of scientific method as a model for self-understanding (objective, unbiased).
• Taylor’s twist: He sees this move as real “moral progress.”
• Quote: “Descartes gives us a way of looking at the self that’s rooted in what he calls disengaged reason.” (21:17)
• Philosophers often crystallize cultural movements already underway (not lone saviors).

e. Locke’s Tabula Rasa and the “Burden of Self-Interpretation” (22:54–29:00)

• John Locke: “Blank slate”—we create ourselves from experience; we can become anyone by reorganizing our inner life.
• Example: Benjamin Franklin choosing virtues not because God said so, but because he personally values them.
• Key Concept: The “burden of self-interpretation”—modern individuals must choose their moral approach from scratch (28:10).
• Still, even then, virtue is external, not fully self-generated.

f. Hume & Sentimental Morality (29:04–33:15)

• David Hume: Morality arises from feeling, not reason (“Reason is the slave of the passions” (32:10)).
• Morals come from customs, community, sympathy—not a cosmic order.

g. Rousseau & Romanticism: The True Birth of Authenticity (33:18–38:40)

• Rousseau: Society corrupts us; the real self lies underneath societal expectations.
• Quote: “The self is actually something that exists deep down inside of you, beneath all the noise and these social expectations…” (34:30)
• Romanticism pushes for unique self-expression as a creative gift to society.
• Authenticity becomes the primary moral yardstick—being true to one’s inner self.

4. The Challenge of Modern Authenticity (38:41–47:30)

a. Complexity of the Modern Self

• Taylor: Three major worldviews persist today:
  1. Religious (universal dignity, cosmic order)
  2. Instrumental reason (efficiency, Enlightenment rationality)
  3. Romantic authenticity (expressive individualism)
• Quote: “We live in a type of modern society that’s what he calls irreconcilably multi-leveled.” (41:00)
• These perspectives coexist and compete, even within individuals—creating tension and confusion.

b. Dangers of Over-Emphasizing One Approach

• Each worldview, taken too far, causes problems:
  • Instrumental reason alone: dehumanizes, reduces people to machines (42:45).
  • Pure authenticity: lapses into moral relativism and “subjective preference” (43:15).
  • Religious dogmatism: stifles dialogue and evolution of meanings (45:00).

5. Taylor’s Critique: What’s Wrong with Pop Authenticity? (47:31–52:17)

• Taylor criticizes the shallow version of authenticity as mere self-generated preference or “my truth.”
• Moral values aren’t totally subjective; they are anchored in what Taylor calls “horizons of significance”—shared narratives, traditions, and values (48:35).
• Quote: “Choosing based on preferences without doing the work to really consider what grounds those preferences can be a way to live out your life in one of the most inauthentic ways possible.” (50:30)
• Real authenticity requires self-awareness of these cultural backgrounds and making them genuinely one’s own.

6. How Can Authenticity Be Preserved? (52:18–end)

• The solution: Encourage dialogue across differences; “protect the background conditions that allow for truly authentic individuals to come together and have a dialogue.”
• Protect free speech, due process, and individual rights as foundations for ongoing moral growth and self-understanding (53:20).
• Quote: “What we really need is people becoming more self aware, which would make us more authentic and more capable of participating in the important conversations that will shape the preferences of people to come.” (53:50)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ancient Roles:
  “I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn… even Legolas…is introduced always in relation to the community he lives in.” (06:40)

• On Authenticity as Trap:
  “‘Be yourself,’ people say … But why do people like Byung Chul Han say that authenticity, as most experience it these days, is just a neoliberal sales pitch…?” (01:40)

• On the Burden of Self-Interpretation:
  “If at any point you’re living your life and you don’t do any of these things…expect to be met with moral judgment from all the people around you. This is the modern burden of self interpretation…” (28:20)

• On Horizons of Significance:
  “…a meaningful choice presupposes a background of shared narratives, traditions, shared languages, shared values that we almost always make our decisions in reference to. A horizon of significance.” (48:40)

• On the Need for Dialogue:
  “Any approach…that’s based on monopolies or dogmatic rules that are written and will never change no matter what happens…will never be able to account for how dynamic human minds are over time.” (56:43)

Key Timestamps for Reference

• 00:20 — Introduction to authenticity as a modern moral ideal
• 04:00 — Ancient Athens and identity through roles
• 09:50 — St. Augustine and Christianity’s turn inward
• 13:12 — Protestant Reformation: individual interpretation
• 16:50 — Descartes, Enlightenment, disengaged reason
• 22:54 — Locke, Tabula Rasa, and the burden of self-interpretation
• 29:04 — David Hume, feeling as moral source
• 33:18 — Rousseau and the roots of modern authenticity
• 38:41 — Taylor on the coexistence and tension of three worldviews
• 47:31 — Taylor’s critique of “my truth” and moral relativism
• 52:18 — The importance of dialogue and conditions for genuine authenticity

Summary Flow & Takeaways

Stephen West provides a lucid, chronologically structured account of how the Western concept of selfhood—and with it, authenticity—has shifted fundamentally through philosophical, religious, and cultural transformations. At each stage, he shows how moral authority moved from the cosmic order to internal conscience, from imposed roles to self-chosen virtues, from community standards to personal feelings and, finally, to “being true to one’s inner self.” Yet he emphasizes Taylor’s insistence that authenticity is not a self-centered exercise but a challenge of genuinely situating oneself within inherited, shared moral traditions. Misunderstanding authenticity as mere subjectivism, West warns via Taylor, leads to superficiality, while real authenticity requires robust dialogue and self-awareness of one’s cultural context.

For Listeners Who Haven’t Heard the Episode

• This episode is an accessible, narrative-driven introduction to Charles Taylor’s philosophy of the self and authenticity.
• It gives historical context for why we care about “being authentic,” and why that’s a uniquely modern (and not always well-understood) preoccupation.
• Listeners will gain insight into how modern life’s demands for authenticity are both liberating and burdensome, and why deep self-awareness and engagement with others remain crucial for genuine authenticity.