Written by: Richard Volzke on January 17, 2014

Taylor, in his book on modern social imaginary, explores the development and human understanding of morality in a political societal context. The author does not focus on the theory itself, but the imaginary that surrounds the theory. Taylor begins by explaining the Grotius’s theory on how a political society is formed. His theory is that a political society is formed when groups of people come together with common pre-existing notions of morality based on the natural rights of every individual. This theory stresses the importance that individuals have a moral obligation to protect and respect the rights of others. It also establishes the moral authority of a society’s right to form a political form of government, and that government only exists because the people grant it the authority to do so.

A phrase that the author uses throughout his book is “social imaginary”, which he defines as, “the ways people imagine their social existence, how they fit together with others, how things go on between them and their fellows, the expectations that are normally met, and the deeper normative notions and images that underlie these expectations.”[1] Taylor focuses on the common people within a society, and draws his views from “images, stories, and legends.”[2] The reason for this is that the author believes that looking at social imaginary, through a theoretical context, would represent only a small minority of the population. Looking at the society, as a whole, is a truer picture of how people perceive the society in which they live. Taylor says that social imaginary “incorporates a sense of the normal expectations we have of each other, the kind of common understanding that enables us to carry out the collective practices that make up our social life.”[3]

In chapter 5, Taylor explains that there are three areas that help a society to understand the how they view themselves. These three areas are:  “economy, the public sphere, and the practices and outlooks of democratic self-rule.”[4]  I believe the author is trying to say that using these three factors does not consider God’s original intent or plan for the society.  Taylor states that, “The notion that God governs the world according to a benign plan is ancient, even pre-Christian, with roots in Judaism as well as Stoicism. What is new is the way of conceiving of his benevolent scheme. ”[5]

I believe the author did a good job outlining the growth and development of morality in society, and explaining how society views itself.  However, it did seem that the book became repetitive, and after the first couple of chapters, offered little new insight outside of an overview on Grotius’ theory.   It would be helpful to further explore this theory in a biblical context, and also to investigate older societies dating back to periods prior to the 17^th century.  Taylor provides us with a lens in which we can evaluate society’s morals as we encounter cultural change or foreign cultures.  However, broadening the scope to explore a wider historical context of societal growth and additional viewpoints would seem beneficial.

About the Author

Richard Volzke