Philosopher Charles Taylor offers routes back to an enchanted existence
The Canadian scholar insists poetry persuades us through the experience of connection
For centuries, most Europeans felt they belonged to an ordered universe. There was a hierarchy that included the divine and the natural world. But by the middle of the 18th century, this feeling had vanished for many people.
Charles Taylor believes there's a human ambition that remains: yearning for cosmic connection. Even in the age of disenchantment, he says, it never went away.
Taylor has long been Canada's most famous philosopher. He delivered the CBC Massey Lectures back in 1991, on the Malaise of Modernity. Several of his books, like Sources of the Self and A Secular Age, are listed among the most important philosophical works of recent decades.
His new book, Cosmic Connections: Poetry in an Age of Disenchantment, tells a story of how poets, beginning in the Romantic period, found a new avenue to pursue meaning in life.
"People have a very strong sense of the powerful meaning of our relation to nature, the planet. It's a very important part of the meaning of life for lots of people, perennially, but — in this bewildering way — with great changes, " Taylor told IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed in Montreal, where he has lived, off and on, since 1931.
According to the renowned scholar, despite a widespread "disenchantment" dominating European culture in its modern era, routes back to enchantment have always been available. Some could be found through poetry and music.
Taylor believes another route involves taking a kind of leap of faith, and believing in the value of what might be unanswerable questions. In particular, the classically vague notion of a "meaning of life," Taylor argues, is still worth trying to clarify.
Philosophers have disagreed over whether meaning in life is a private matter or feeling, or, as Taylor puts it, "whether there are real issues here. I was convinced there are real issues."
Taylor began his relationship with poetry in high school when his English teacher introduced him to notable poets like John Keats, one of Taylor's favourites. He says he wrote this recent book after noticing patterns in some of the poems that meant the most to him.
"The bulk of the book is spent trying to make people feel this is a very live meaning that can be awoken. There is a way of expressing this, coming to grips with this, communicating this," Taylor explained.
He adds that people who follow the meaningful paths successfully carved by some poets will find a fuller and more enriched life.
"That's the primary justification," he said, while noting that he hopes there will be a spin-off environmental benefit from more people finding ways to relate to their world beyond merely using it.
Listen to the full conversation by downloading the IDEAS podcast.
*This episode was produced by Tom Howell.
