Turning or Spinning? Charles Taylor's Catholicism: A Reply to Ian Fraser

Abstract

Charles Taylor's work has recently taken a religious turn, with Taylor becoming more explicit about his own religious faith and its influence on his thinking. Ian Fraser offers a systematic, critical exploration of the nature of Taylor's Catholicism as it appears in his writings. This reply to Fraser endorses his belief in the importance of looking carefully at Taylor's religious views. However, it raises doubts about some of Fraser's particular arguments and conclusions, and aims to foster a clearer understanding of Taylor's religious beliefs. It poses questions for Fraser about (i) what Taylor is setting out to do in A Catholic Modernity?; (ii) why he invokes the figure of Matteo Ricci; (iii) whether he believes that acts of practical benevolence are impossible without a religious foundation; and (iv) whether his religiously-inspired pluralism suffers an inherent contradiction.