[lit-ideas] SOS or Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self, Chapter 1, Part 1.2
- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 15:09:25 +0900
The opening words of Part 1.2 (page 8) are
"I spoke at the outset about exploring the 'background picture' lying
behind our moral and spiritual intuitions. I could now rephrase this
and say that my target is the moral ontology which articulates these
intuitions."
What, if any, difference would substituting 'moral ontology' for
'background picture' make?
Two thoughts occur to me. The first is that when any thinker
substitutes a term of art (here "moral ontology") for a more common
expression, we are being asked to look more closely at or take more
seriously the topic in question. The second is that "background
picture" is passive; unless we make a special effort, our eyes are
focused on the action in the foreground. A "moral ontology" not only
sounds weightier. Positioned as the subject of "articulates these
intuitions," it becomes an agent in its own right, part of the action,
not just the scenery.
I wonder what others see here.
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
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