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“Charles Taylor’s Philosophy of Deep Diversity”

Charles Blattberg (University of Montréal) publishes a new article entitled “Charles Taylor’s Philosophy of Deep Diversity” in Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review.

Abstract

Charles Taylor’s idea of “deep diversity” has played a major role in debates over multiculturalism in Canada and around the world. Originally, the idea was meant to account for how different groups within Canada — anglophone Canadians, francophone Quebecers, and Indigenous — conceive of their belonging to the country in different ways. Taylor, however, conceives of these differences strictly in terms of irreducibility; that is, he fails to see that they also mean that the country cannot be said to form a unified whole. After giving an account of the philosophical as well as theological reasons for this, I explore its political implications.