On Charles Taylor's Secularization Transformation Theory

This dissertation studies Charles Taylor's secularized transformation theory and explains how he interprets the secularized transformation of modern society under his own frame theory.To restore Charles Taylor's secularized transformation theory accurately and systematically is not the purpose of this dissertation.The main purpose of this dissertation is to reveal the unique novelty of Charles Taylor's secularization transformation theory--hermeneutic investigation of secularization "understanding context",and point out that Charles Taylor's thinking on secularization has gone beyond the established fact level of secularization.In order to enter the secular society,the possible transcendental conditions(the pre-understanding structure to which the understanding may be subordinated)have acquired a hermeneutic character.This dissertation aims to prove that Charles Taylor's secular transformation theory is a reflection and critical theory of modernity,but at the same time,it is also a hermeneutic theory of understanding and interpreting modernity.Its significance lies in proposing a new theoretical model of understanding modernity,that is,a hermeneutic model of understanding and reflecting modernity.The study of secularization transformation is a core part of Charles Taylor's study of modernity.Charles Taylor distinguished three meanings of the secular:the first meaning is the ultimate reality of the public space with the absence of God.The second meaning refers to the decline of religious beliefs and practices;The third meaning refers to the overall context in which moral,spiritual,or religious experience occur.Charles Taylor is investigating the secular in the third kind of sense,he defines and traces such a change that leads us from a society in which it is actually impossible not to believe in god into another society,in which the belief is just an possible option during the life.He tries to grasp the "understanding context" that makes this secularization possible in the end.Only by starting from his "frame"theory,can we fundamentally grasp the "understanding context" of the transition theory of secularization.Taylor's "frame" theory as one possible condition for meaning understanding is consistent.Frames often exist in the manner of pre-objects,as a context hidden in the historical process.The frame itself has undergone a transformation from transcendence to immanence,with the transformation of "ego-world-time�and the establishment of"exclusive humanism" as the main axis to provide a new interpretive path for Taylor's secularization transformation theory.In Taylor's view,the transformation of the self from 'porous self to 'buffered self has played a critical role in the development of modernity and has produced a number of effects.Self-transformation is closely related to the process of disenchantment.The porous self lives in a world of enchantment.The force and meaning in the world can permeate into the self.The buffered self lives in a disenchanted world,drawing a clear line between the external and the immanent,reason and desire.The process of self-transformation is also a process from embedding to de-embedding.The modern self is the product of the post-embedding process.However,the modern self also brings a lot of malaises,especially the proliferation of atomic individualism and the lack of the meaning of life.The transformation of self-secularization is accompanied by the transformation of experience,understanding and imagination manner.The secular ized transformation of the world in Taylor's context focuses on the transformation of ordinary people's daily perception manner of the world in their daily lives.The secularization of the world is the transformation from cosmos to the universe.The world before the transformation is called the cosmos,and the world after the transformation the universe.There is a divine transcendental dimension in the cosmos.However,in the universe,where holiness has faded and transcendence has ceased to function,it is a secular world,one governed by the laws and orders of nature.With the secular transformation,people cannot find transcendental existence of holiness in the world,and the world can function well without them.Similarly,People's daily life in the world no longer needs the support of transcendental belief.Under this background,"unbelief" inevitably rises.People tend to focus on transforming themselves and the world.However,this dissertation makes a deeper exploration and points out that behind the transformation of the self and the world there is also a deeper transformation of time.Time transformation,self-transformation and world transformation are interwoven and influenced each other,which promote the transformation of secularization.Taylor divided time into secular time which is what we modern people understand and higher time which is a kind of pre-modern time,including the eternal time of ancient Greece,that of God and the original time.The shift from higher time to secular time has had a huge effect.This kind of time transition brings about the quit of transcendent experience,which opens the process of secularization.Along with the transformation of time comes the malaises of modernity,which are embodied in the nihilism of meaning.The establishment of exclusive humanism is vital.Taylor believes that exclusive humanism,which seeks nothing in the transformation of secularization,replaces the perfection of God.It changed people's beliefs and morals.It excluded the role of transcendental existence in people's lives,and focused on the immanent nature of human beings.It advocated the concept of mutually beneficial order and universal benevolence,believing that people could achieve human well-being only by relying on their own strength.The foundation of faith is based on the immanent nature of human beings.The significance of religion lies in maintaining human order and realizing human welfare.In short,the basis of religion is no longer transcendent but immanent,and man takes the place of God and becomes the core of religion.Taylor considers the process of secularization as an internalizational one.At the same time,Taylor also saw many malaises caused by internalization transformation,such as the transformation of "ego-world-time" and the establishment of "exclusive humanism",whose consequences were all focused on the "nihilization of meaning".In order to respond to the problem of lack of meaning,contemporary thinkers are trying to seek and construct a new immanent foundation.Many thought movements,such as radical humanism,Romanticism and Nietzsches,have shared the immanent frame.From this point of view,their cracking of the malaises is actually a partial adaptation of the internal frame,rather than a fundamental criticism of the internal frame.The malaise is actually the consequence of the closed worldstructure,which takes a closed position on the transcendent existence.Heidegger,Foucault and others severely criticized the subject of modern epistemology,and the final direction of criticism is actually the closed world structure that modern epistemology defaults to.In short,if we want to solve the malaises fundamentally,we must break through the closed world structure that makes them possible.There is no doubt that Taylor's secularized transformation theory which is reconstructed taking the frame theory as a core has the reflective and critical nature of general modernity theory.The aim is to extract the common experience and normative understanding of modernity by dissecting the spiritual qualities of modern society in order to critically evaluate the essential characteristics of modernity and identify the positive and negative aspects of modernity,to explore the way of transcend and overcome modernity and realize the goal of reconstructing and rationalizing modern life.It is important to note,however,Taylor's secular transformation theory is obviously different from other focus on the uniqueness of social critical theory of modernity,this uniqueness in Taylor's secular transformation theory lies in that,as a kind of reflection of modernity theory,it mainly unfolds a historical analysis of the modernity through the understanding of the generation of modernity context.In this sense,Taylor's frame theory has a hermeneutic feature.From the perspective of hermeneutics,Taylor's frame is undoubtedly the antecedent subordination that makes understanding possible,and has the transcendental property required by hermeneutic historical consciousness that makes understanding possible.Namely,it can provide the conditions of antecedent membership for the understanding of all possible reasons,and it can lay a transcendental foundation for the understanding of meaning on the level of historical consciousness.Frame,like pre-understanding,preoccupies people,and it is on the basis of frame that people understand meaning.The frame itself has undergone a transformation from transcendence to immanence,which penetrates deeply into modern people's understanding and makes"pre-understanding" internalized,thus enriching the meaning of hermeneutics and expanding the application scope of hermeneutics.This secularized transformation theory,which can be called "frame hermeneutics",has brought many innovations and contributions to modern hermeneutics:First,it concretely applies the pre-understanding structure thought of philosophical hermeneutics to the modern reflective theory,proving that the pre-understanding theory of philosophical hermeneutics has the function of reflection intrinsically.Taylor's secularized transformation theory reveals the potential concerns associated with modernity under the framework of immanent characteristics implied by modern hermeneutics,and shows the reflective character of modernity theory with critical temperament.This directly proves that the pre-understanding theory of philosophical hermeneutics is not a conservative theory lacking critical spirit as the critics accuse.Second,from the perspective of the triple division of modern hermeneutics,Taylor's "framework hermeneutics" not only focuses on the exploration of the pre-understanding conditions of modernity and its functions,hence leaning towards philosophical hermeneutics in terms of theoretical character,as a theorist of modernity,Taylor but also pays special attention to social criticism through interpretation.His hermeneutic thought also shows the character of hermeneutic philosophy.His frame theory has both the dimensions of philosophical hermeneutics and hermeneutic philosophy,and has an obvious intermediation.This shows that modern hermeneutics can be understood not only in philosophical ontology,but also as a method in philosophical research.Taylor's "frame hermeneutics" clearly recognizes that modern hermeneutics and applied hermeneutics cannot be simply and mechanically understood according to types,and that the universality of modern hermeneutics must be recognized from the height of philosophical universality.Third,Taylor's secularized transformation theory,which has the direction of interpretive philosophy,not only needs to understand modernity and its origin and development,but also needs to be based on this understanding to diagnose the malaises of modernity and explore the way to save modernity.This actually contains a larger theoretical ambition of Taylor,that is,to construct a new model of modernity research and reflection��a hermeneutic model.From the perspective of hermeneutics,Taylor's frame theory is a hermeneutics emphasizing application.From the perspective of modernity theory,Taylor's framework theory is a kind of modernity theory focusing on the interpretation of the origin and circumstances of modernity.No matter from the perspective of hermeneutics or modernity,there is no doubt that Taylor's frame theory is indeed a unique theory,worthy of a researcher's exploration into the forest.