Interpreting Charles Taylor’s Social Theory on Religion and Secularization: A Comparative Study (Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures Book 20)

This book examines “Taylorean social theory,” its sources, main characteristics and impact. Charles Taylor’s meta-narrative of secularization in the West, prominently contained in his major work __A Secular Age__ (2007), has brought new insight on the social and cultural factors that intervened in such process, the role of human agency, and particularly on the contemporary conditions of belief in North America and Europe. This study discusses what Taylor’s approach has brought to the scholarly debate on Western secularization, which has been carried on mostly in sociological terms. McKenzie interprets Taylor’s views in a way that offers an original social theory. Such interpretation is possible with the help of sociologist Margaret Archer’s “morphogenetic theory” and by making the most of Taylor’s particular understanding of the method of the social sciences and of his philosophical views on human beings, knowledge and modernity. After exploring the philosophical and sociological sources informing Taylorean social theory and proposing its basic concepts and hermeneutic guidelines, the author compares it with two widespread theories of secularization: the now waning “orthodox” account and that proposed by Rational Choice Theory scholars, particularly prevalent in the United States. In doing so, the book shows in which ways Taylorean social theory supersedes them, what new issues it brings into the scholarly discussion, and what difficulties might limit its future development. Dedication 6 Preface 7 Acknowledgments 11 Contents 13 Part I: Meta-Narrative 16 Chapter 1: The Contemporary Landscape of Theories of Secularization 17 1.1 Secularization in Classical Sociology 18 1.2 The Contemporary Debate on Secularization 24 1.2.1 The Orthodox Paradigm: “Modernization Entails Religious Decline” 25 1.2.2 The Counter-Orthodox Paradigm: “Modernization Entails Religious Vitality; Secularization Is a Self-­Limiting Process in Such a Context” 29 1.2.3 Revisionist Approaches: “Modernity Is About Religious Change, Not Necessarily Decline Nor Revitalization” 31 1.3 Balance of the Debate and Important Related Issues 36 1.4 Where Are We Now and the Taylorean Position 38 References 40 Chapter 2: Charles Taylor’s Account of Secularization (I) 43 2.1 Introduction 43 2.2 Defining the Problem 44 2.3 (Re) Describing the Secularization Process in the West 49 2.4 How Did Secularization Happen? 50 2.5 North Atlantic Secularization 51 2.5.1 Ancien Régime 51 2.5.2 Age of Mobilization 55 2.5.3 Age of Authenticity 57 2.5.4 The American (or European?) Exception 61 References 63 Chapter 3: Charles Taylor’s Account of Secularization (II) 65 3.1 The Way to Exclusive Humanism 66 3.1.1 History of Reform 66 3.1.2 Providential Deism, Impersonal Order and Exclusive Humanism 69 3.2 Our Contemporary Conditions of Belief 70 3.2.1 Living in an Immanent Frame 70 3.2.2 Closed World Structures 71 3.2.3 Living Cross-Pressured 73 3.2.4 Mutual Fragilization of the Poles 74 3.3 Looking into the Future 76 References 79 Part II: Sources 81 Chapter 4: Philosophical and Classic Sociological Sources 82 4.1 “Philosophical Anthropology” and the Hermeneutical View of the Sciences of Man 83 4.1.1 Humans as “Self-Interpreting” Beings 83 4.1.2 Ethically-Bounded Selves 86 4.1.3 Modernity and Epistemology 88 4.1.4 Hermeneutical Nature of the Social Sciences 91 4.2 Taylor and Classical Sociology 101 4.2.1 Taylor and Weber 101 4.2.2 Taylor and Durkheim 107 4.2.3 Taylor and Marx 109 4.2.4 Classical Sociology as “Acultural Theory” 113 References 114 Chapter 5: Contemporary Sociological Sources 117 5.1 Sources for the Redefinition of the Problem 118 5.1.1 New Hermeneutics and a Non-universal Uneven Trajectory 118 5.1.2 Some Misunderstandings 119 5.1.3 Conditions of Belief 122 5.2 Sources for the Socio-historical Analysis of Secularization 123 5.2.1 Social Imaginaries in General 124 5.2.2 Modern Social Imaginaries 127 5.2.3 Civil Religion 129 5.2.4 Elite-Masses Relationships 130 5.3 Sources for a History of Reform 130 5.3.1 Axial Religion 130 5.3.2 History of Reform 131 5.4 Sources for Contemporary Religion and the Secular/Religious Divide 134 5.4.1 Religion Today 134 5.4.2 Varieties of the Secular/Religious Divide 137 5.5 A Balance of Taylor’s Sociological Sources 139 References 140 Part III: Taylorean Social Theory 143 Chapter 6: Interpreting a Social Theory 144 6.1 Mapping Taylorean Social Theory 147 6.1.1 Structure and Human Agency 147 6.1.2 Social Imaginaries as Linking the Social and the Cultural 149 6.1.3 Social Change vs. Social Stability 151 6.1.4 Sociology and History 152 6.1.5 Qualitative and Quantitative Verification 153 6.2 Taylorean Social Theory and Social Change 154 6.3 Social Imaginaries and Elite-Masses Dynamics 156 6.4 Taylorean Social Theory as Morphogenetic 159 6.4.1 Basic Concepts 160 6.4.2 Taylorean Social Theory and Social Change in the Process of Secularization 167 6.4.3 Taylor’s Meta-narrative Expressed in Terms of Taylorean Social Theory 168 6.5 Nature and Scope of Taylorean Social Theory 176 References 177 Chapter 7: Taylorean Social Theory and the “Orthodox” and “Counter-Orthodox” Models 179 7.1 Social Theory in Dialogue with the “Orthodox” Model 180 7.1.1 The “Orthodox” View of Social Change 180 7.1.2 The “Orthodox” Model Under Critique 182 7.1.3 Advantages of Taylorean Social Theory and New Issues 185 7.1.4 What to Keep from “Orthodox” Theories? 187 7.2 Taylorean Social Theory in Dialogue with the Rational Choice “Counter-Orthodox” Model 187 7.2.1 The “Counter-Orthodox” View of Social Change 188 7.2.2 The “Counter-Orthodox” Model Under Critique 190 7.2.3 Advantages of Taylorean Social Theory and New Issues 199 7.2.4 What to Keep from “Counter-Orthodox” Theories? 200 7.3 Some Sociological Criticisms of Taylorean Social Theory 201 References 204 Chapter 8: Conclusion 206 Glossary 209 Index 212 Front Matter....Pages i-xv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Contemporary Landscape of Theories of Secularization....Pages 3-28 Charles Taylor’s Account of Secularization (I)....Pages 29-50 Charles Taylor’s Account of Secularization (II)....Pages 51-66 Front Matter....Pages 67-67 Philosophical and Classic Sociological Sources....Pages 69-103 Contemporary Sociological Sources....Pages 105-130 Front Matter....Pages 131-131 Interpreting a Social Theory....Pages 133-167 Taylorean Social Theory and the “Orthodox” and “Counter-Orthodox” Models....Pages 169-195 Conclusion....Pages 197-199 Back Matter....Pages 201-207