Dilemmas and Connections

Charles Taylor is one of the finest thinkers we have. And by ‘we’ I mean every striving, puzzled, intellectually alert person on the planet. Even when you dissent from his conclusions you’d be a dullard if you chose to ignore Taylor’s verve or the fabulous intellectual tussles his writings provoke. Mostly, you’ll find yourself agreeing with him and I can think of no better introduction to either pursuit (the cheering or the respectful booing) than this splendid book… The wisdom and learning on display is staggering. -- Jonathan Wright * Catholic Herald *
Charles Taylor’s worldwide influence and reputation owe to the depth and imagination of his work. They owe, too, to the fact that he is one of the few philosophers who has consistently made his ideas accessible to different philosophical traditions, as well as to scholars in other disciplines. His range of interests and reference is impressively wide and his writing is accessible and bracingly free of jargon. He is almost temperamentally incapable of writing on any subject without relating it to the most fundamental philosophical questions. He is generous when writing of others, drawing out what is most significant in their work, with never an unfair or unforgiving note. He has a keen and constantly curious cosmopolitan sensibility. Above all, his humanity is vast. Every one of these qualities—and more—are present in abundance in these essays. -- Akeel Bilgrami, Columbia University