Recognition of Diversity: Charles Taylor’s Educational Thought By Anthony Joseph Palma A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Social Justice Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Anthony Joseph Palma (2014) RECOGNITION OF DIVERSITY: CHARLES TAYLOR’S EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT Doctor of Philosophy (2014) Anthony Joseph Palma Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Social Justice Education University of Toronto Abstract This study focuses on Charles Taylor’s educational thought with a view to understanding his contributions to the discipline of Philosophy of Education. No comprehensive study of Charles Taylor’s educational thought has been attempted. There is a single dissertation and a dozen or so published periodical articles that do take Taylor’s educational views into consideration, to be sure. Yet these studies, which limit themselves to Taylor’s account of the recognition and/or non-recognition of identity in multicultural societies, are insufficient on five accounts: i) they are indifferent to the historical nature of Taylor’s scholarly work; ii) they neglect the philosophical sources of his educational thought; iii) they fail to highlight the interconnections between the key educational themes he takes up; iv) they disregard his major critics and the dialectical tensions raised by these critics; and v) they are somewhat dated in that they do not consider his more recent scholarship. My dissertation seeks to fill these scholarly gaps. My thesis is that an inner logic is implicit in Charles Taylor’s educational thought. I argue that Taylor’s views on the modern condition, (i.e. in his readings of Descartes, Kant, Herder, and Hegel), are closely interwoven with his views on modern education, and that interconnected currents in the modern history of ideas elucidated by Taylor, (i.e. scientific rationality, exclusive humanism, and the ethics of authenticity), have contributed to the rise of, and the sensitivity toward, both the theory and the practice of the politics of recognition in contemporary educational institutions. I conclude that an education for culturally diverse minds and hearts, anchored in human, historical, and epistemological recognition, and democratically open to both immanence and transcendence, is the true calling of Taylor’s educational thought. (ii) Acknowledgements The exercise of writing a Ph.D. dissertation can be likened to a solo climb up a very high mountain. The journey can be a long, difficult, and painful struggle. Trials and tribulations abound: weather can obstruct, rope can tear, hands and feet can injure, and one’s supplies can quickly deplete. What can seem like one step forward can amount to two steps back. Human faculties are tested, including the will to mentally, physically, and emotionally endure. My own proverbial climb to the summit of Mount Dissertation has been eased by the support of many. Thanks are due, first and foremost, to those in the Faculty of Education at the University of Toronto who made this study possible: to Dr. John Portelli, my Graduate Supervisor, for his inspiration, wisdom, and humour; to Fr. Mario D’Souza, C.S.B., Dr. Trevor Norris, Dr. Lauren Bialystok, and Dr. Douglas Simpson, my doctoral committee members, for their enthusiastic endorsement of the project; to Dr. Dwight Boyd, Dr. Megan Boler, Dr. Maureen Ford, Dr. Jeff Stickney, Dr. Dieter Misgeld, Dr. David Levine, Dr. Eric Bredo, and Dr. Jim Lang, my professors in the History and Philosophy of Education program, who challenged me to think differently; to Janice Verner, Karen Dinsdale, Sezen Atacan, Kristine Pearson, Margaret Brennan, Wendy Mauzeroll, Karolina Szymanski, Linda Pereira, Ruth Rogers, Lise Watson, Dr. Carrie Chassels, and Dr. Abigail Bakan, the talented group of administrators who guided me along the path; to Mary MacDonell, for allowing me to present my research at the annual O.I.S.E. Dean’s Conference; and finally, to Rula Kahil, Paula Carrasco, Selena Nemorin, Carmen Poole, Maureen Neil, Lynne Alexandrova, Laura Clayton, Sarah Cashmore, Glen White, Michael McGarry, Brian Wright, Dr. Graham McDonough, and Fr. Francois Mifsud, O.P., my student colleagues, all of whom were a constant source of enrichment to me through the course of my doctoral studies. On the academic front, thanks are also due to Dr. Ruth Abbey, at the University of Notre Dame, for her invaluable bibliography of Charles Taylor’s writings; to David Cayley, at the Canadian Broadcasting Company, for his revealing five-part radio documentary on the life and times of Charles Taylor; to the organizers of various conferences I attended and/or presented at to better understand Taylor’s philosophy, including ‘Religion on the Borders: New Challenges in the Academic Study of Religion’ in Stockholm, Sweden (2007), ‘The Sacred and the Secular in a Global Canada’ in London, Ontario (2008), ‘A Secular Age? Tracing the Contours of Religion and Belief’ in Dublin, Ireland (2009), ‘Ecumenism and the Challenge of Pluralism: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue’ in Toronto (2010), ‘Charles Taylor at 80’ in Montreal (2012), and ‘Educating in Canada: Inequalities, Controversies, Debates, and Possibilities’ in Niagara (2013); to Dr. Rachael Cayley, at U. of T.’s School of Graduate Studies, for her excellent course on dissertation writing and her equally excellent advice on refining my Ph.D. proposal; to the librarians at the University of Toronto and at Brock University, who were helpful to me at every stage of the writing process; to Duane Rendle and Kevin Dancy, the Dean and Assistant Dean of Students at Saint Michael’s College, for their generosity in extending my term as a don in residence; to Carolyn Chau, Ali Galestan, Brendan Kelly, Nir Harrel, Daniele Bertolini, Kyle Ferguson, Steve Williams, Fr. Youngmin Song, Dr. Kevin Connolly, Dr. Stephan Dusil, Dr. Jack Cunningham, Dr. Pablo Argárate, Dr. Stephen Scharper, and Dr. Schrine Persad, my academic friends at U. of T., for their erudite conversations on all matters intellectual; to the gifted students I have tutored; to Dr. Francesco Guardiani and Dr. Mark McGowan for hiring me as a Teaching Assistant; to Dr. Donald Wiebe, for a summer research opportunity; to Dr. David Goicoechea, for his mentorship; to Fr. Don Furlong, C.S.B., for his spiritual direction; to the late Sir Isaiah Berlin, whose writings in the history of ideas first led me to Charles Taylor; and finally, to Professor Taylor himself, for his private discussions on the educational relevance of his writings. Last, but certainly not least, I am more than grateful to the members of my family, all of whom had a hand, in one way or another, in ensuring the completion of this study. Thanks go out to my 90-year-old grandmother, Elizabeth Pichelli, for her strength of soul; to my mother, Clara Palma, and to my father, Don Palma, talented educators in their own right, for their careful editing of the manuscript; to my younger brother, Mark Palma and his wife Amy, and to my younger sister, Laura Reid and her husband James, for their patient encouragement; to my nephew Aiden and my niece Ella, for instilling hope in the future; to my cousin-in-law, Tom Phelan, for believing in me; and to Carmen Morra, for his thoughtfulness and generosity. Four important people passed away while this dissertation was being written: Nicholas Schoenhoffer, a gentleman and friend; Dr. Margaret O’Gara, a gifted theologian and ecumenist; Fr. Robert Madden, C.S.B., alumni guru and ‘pied piper’ of story-telling; and John Pichelli, my much-loved maternal uncle. This study is offered in honour of their memory. Anthony J. Palma iii) “The capacity to love ... is more important to me than the capacity to reason.” Charles Taylor1 1 See Thomas Meaney and Yascha Mounk, ‘Spiritual Gains’, The Utopian, December 7th, 2010. (iv) Contents Introduction Why Charles Taylor? (2) Part I: Taylor in the Conversation on Education 1 – A Review of the Literature (19) Part II: Taylor’s Readings of Modern Philosophers 2 – René Descartes (52) 3 – Immanuel Kant (63) 4 – J.G. Herder (74) 5 – G.W.F. Hegel (84) Part III: Key Themes in Taylor’s Educational Thought 6 – Scientific Rationality (105) 7 – Exclusive Humanism (118) 8 – The Ethics of Authenticity (131) 9 – The Politics of Recognition (152) Part IV: Taylor’s Critics 10 – Clifford Geertz (214) 11 – William Connolly (225) 12 – Richard Rorty (241) 13 – Jürgen Habermas (266) Conclusion Taylor’s Educational Contributions (290) Bibliography Appendix A (301) (v) 1 Introduction Why Charles Taylor? 2 INTRODUCTION It has become rather cliché in academic circles in recent years to acknowledge that Charles Margrave Taylor, Professor Emeritus at McGill University, is not only Canada’s finest living philosopher, but also one of the more influential thinkers in the contemporary Western world. This study focuses on Charles Taylor’s educational thought with a view to articulating his contributions to the discipline of Philosophy of Education. Surprisingly, little attention has been paid to Taylor’s reflections on modern education. No comprehensive study of Charles Taylor’s educational thought has been attempted. There is a single dissertation and a dozen or more published periodical articles that do take Taylor’s educational views into consideration, to be sure.1 Yet these studies, which limit themselves to Taylor’s account of the recognition and/or non- recognition of identity in multicultural societies, are insufficient on five accounts: i) they are indifferent to the historical nature of Taylor’s scholarly work; ii) they neglect the philosophical sources of his educational thought; iii) they fail to highlight the interconnections between the key educational themes he takes up; iv) they disregard his major critics and the dialectical tensions raised by these critics; and v) they are somewhat dated in that they do not consider his more recent scholarship.