Przyrodnicza a humanistyczna wizja człowieka według Charlesa Taylora
The natural and humanistic vision of man according to Charles Taylor

Summary/Abstract: This article is an attempt to present the basic ideas of Ch. Taylor on thenatural and humanistic conception of man. The natural perspective is characterizedby naturalism – man lost the important elements of his existence(purpose, intentionality, the sphere of meanings and values). He appears asa disinterested observer, who wants to objectify and control the world. Heuses a procedural rationality. According to Taylor, the total reduction of humanityto the natural dimension is impossible, because human life unfoldsin other areas, which we can not describe on the natural level. Taylor prefersthe humanistic conception of man, where he is characterized by the followingfeatures: understanding, focus on the good (a common conception of good isdone through discourse), purposefulness of human action and the quest formeaning in life. It should be noted, however, that Taylor emphasizes sometimesthe complementarity of the two visions, because they relate to otherspheres of human reality, other practices and different types of rationality. Thescientific description of man is needed, but it seems to be insufficient becauseof the moral nature of human existence – a man must be understood withinthe horizon of meanings and values.

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