Charles Taylor: Explanation and Practical Reason

Abstract

Nussbaum agrees with Taylor's argument and explicates the significance of Taylor's work for the concerns and projects of development studies. She then adds two points to Taylor's analysis: one about the history of science and Taylor's historiography, which Nussbaum finds presented in a manner that seems simpler and more monolithic than it actually is; the other on moral psychology, where Nussbaum suggests that Taylor's account of reason needs to be supplemented with a picture of the connection between argument and motivation, and between reason and passion.