--- product_id: 93018388 title: "A Secular Age" price: "£25.69" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/93018388-a-secular-age store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # A Secular Age **Price:** £25.69 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** A Secular Age - **How much does it cost?** £25.69 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/93018388-a-secular-age) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A New York Times Notable Book of the Year A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year A Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year A Tablet Best Book of the Year Winner of a Christianity Today Book Award “One finds big nuggets of insight, useful to almost anybody with an interest in the progress of human society.” ― The Economist What does it mean to say that we live in a secular age? Almost everyone would agree that we―in the West, at least―largely do. And clearly the place of religion in our societies has changed profoundly in the last few centuries. In what will be a defining book for our time, Charles Taylor takes up the question of what these changes mean―of what, precisely, happens when a society in which it is virtually impossible not to believe in God becomes one in which faith, even for the staunchest believer, is only one human possibility among others. Taylor, long one of our most insightful thinkers on such questions, offers a historical perspective. He examines the development in “Western Christendom” of those aspects of modernity which we call secular. What he describes is in fact not a single, continuous transformation, but a series of new departures, in which earlier forms of religious life have been dissolved or destabilized and new ones have been created. As we see here, today’s secular world is characterized not by an absence of religion―although in some societies religious belief and practice have markedly declined―but rather by the continuing multiplication of new options, religious, spiritual, and anti-religious, which individuals and groups seize on in order to make sense of their lives and give shape to their spiritual aspirations. What this means for the world―including the new forms of collective religious life it encourages, with their tendency to a mass mobilization that breeds violence―is what Charles Taylor grapples with, in a book as timely as it is timeless. Review: Charles Taylor's Secular Age - Charles Taylor is a Canadian philosopher who has written extensively on the interplay between the religious and secular attitudes towards life. His recent book, "A Secular Age" explores this relationship in great and thoughtful detail from both a historical and a deeply personal perspective. The book is based in part on the Gifford Lectures that Taylor delivered in Edinburgh in 1997. (William James, a philosopher Taylor admires, also delivered a set of Gifford Lectures which became "The Varieties of Religious Experience".) But the book was expanded greatly from Taylor's Gifford lectures, and he aptly advises the reader "not to think of it as a continuous story-and-argument, but rather as a series of interlocking essays, which shed light on each other,, and offer a context of relevance for each other." (Preface) Taylor's book received the 2007 Templeton Prize. The Templeton Prize is awarded "for progress toward research or discovery about spiritual realities." It carries with it the largest cash award of any major prize or honor. A good deal of Taylor's book is devoted to understanding the nature of secularism and the different contexts in which the word "secularism" is used. For the larger part of the book, Taylor describes a "secular age" as an age in which unbelief in God or in Transcendent reality has become a live option to many people. He describes our age as such a "secular age" especially among academics and other intellectuals. He wants to give an account of how secularism developed, of its strengths and weaknesses, and of its current significance. Taylor's book is written on a personal, historical, and contemporary level. Taylor is a believing contemporary Catholic, and much of his treatment of religious belief reflects his own Catholic/Christian commitments. At times, I thought that Taylor's description of the religious life (necessary to his consideration of secularism) was focused too much in the nature of specifically Christian beliefs, such as the Incarnation and the Atonement, which would be of little significance to non-Christian practitioners of religion, such as Jews, Buddhists, or Zoroastrians. Taylor is, in fact, fully aware of the diversity among religious traditions, but his discussion of the religious outlook still at times tilts greatly towards Christianity. The advantage of Taylor's approach (in emphasizing his own religious commitment)is that it gives the book a sense of immediacy and lived experience. The key difference between secularism and religion for Taylor is that the former tends to see human good and human flourishing as focused solely in this world, in, for example, a happy family, a rewarding career, and service to others, while the religious outlook insists that these goods, while precious are not enough. The religious outlook is Transcendent and sees the primary good in life as beyond all individualized, this-worldly human goods. From a historical perspective, Taylor tries to reject what he calls the "subtraction story". This story sees secularism as resulting purely from the discoveries of science -- such as Darwin's evolution -- taking away assumptions basic to religion leaving a secular, nonreligious world view by default. He offers learned discussions of the medieval period, the reformation and the Enlightenment, of Romanticism and Victorianism as leading to the development of secularism but to new forms of religious awareness as well. The "subtraction story" for Taylor is a gross oversimplification. Secularism, and the religious responses to it, has a complex, convoluted history with many twists and turns. The impetus for both views, Taylor argues is predominantly ethical -- developing views on what is important for human life -- rather than merely epistemological. Taylor's approach seems to me greatly influenced by Hegel. He offers a type of dialectic in which one type of religious belief leads to a resulting series of secularist or religious responses which in turn result in other further variants and responses. In spite of his own religious commitments, he acknoledges, and celebrates, the diversity of options people have today towards both secularism and religion. The book is also deeply influenced by Heidegger (and Wittgenstein) in its emphasis on the unstated and unexamined views towards being in the world that, Taylor finds, underlie both religion and secularism. I found the best portions of the book were those that specifically adressed modern life, as Taylor asseses the importance of an "expressivist" culture, which emphasizes personal fulfillment especially as it involves sexuality, of gender issues and feminism, of this-worldy service to others, and of fanaticism and violence upon issues of secularism and religion. Taylor emphasizes that people today tend to be fluid in their beliefs and to move more frequently than did people in other times between religions, between alternative spiritualities, and, indeed between secularism and religion. He attributes this to the plethora of options in a fragmented age and to a search for meaning among many people that did not seem as pressing in earlier times. Peggy Lee's song "Is that all there is?" is a theme that runs through a great deal of Taylor's book. Taylor has written a difficult, challenging work that is unlikely to change many people's opinions about their own secularism or religion but that may lead to an increased understanding of individuals for their own views and for those of others. This book is not for the casual reader. It will appeal to those who have wrestled for themeselves with questions of spirituality and secularism. Robin Friedman Review: A fantastic rabbit hole! - This book is a wonderful course on the development of the idea of the autonomous individual and the rise of our present day secular world. It’s like sitting in on a graduate level seminar with Taylor. His grasp of Western philosophy is encyclopedic. I have found it quite readable and easy to follow. Absolutely recommend with six stars! ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #40,047 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #11 in Sociology & Religion #23 in Religion & Philosophy (Books) #44 in Religious Philosophy (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 492 Reviews | ## Images ![A Secular Age - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71IVdT6UzRL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Charles Taylor's Secular Age *by R***N on December 6, 2007* Charles Taylor is a Canadian philosopher who has written extensively on the interplay between the religious and secular attitudes towards life. His recent book, "A Secular Age" explores this relationship in great and thoughtful detail from both a historical and a deeply personal perspective. The book is based in part on the Gifford Lectures that Taylor delivered in Edinburgh in 1997. (William James, a philosopher Taylor admires, also delivered a set of Gifford Lectures which became "The Varieties of Religious Experience".) But the book was expanded greatly from Taylor's Gifford lectures, and he aptly advises the reader "not to think of it as a continuous story-and-argument, but rather as a series of interlocking essays, which shed light on each other,, and offer a context of relevance for each other." (Preface) Taylor's book received the 2007 Templeton Prize. The Templeton Prize is awarded "for progress toward research or discovery about spiritual realities." It carries with it the largest cash award of any major prize or honor. A good deal of Taylor's book is devoted to understanding the nature of secularism and the different contexts in which the word "secularism" is used. For the larger part of the book, Taylor describes a "secular age" as an age in which unbelief in God or in Transcendent reality has become a live option to many people. He describes our age as such a "secular age" especially among academics and other intellectuals. He wants to give an account of how secularism developed, of its strengths and weaknesses, and of its current significance. Taylor's book is written on a personal, historical, and contemporary level. Taylor is a believing contemporary Catholic, and much of his treatment of religious belief reflects his own Catholic/Christian commitments. At times, I thought that Taylor's description of the religious life (necessary to his consideration of secularism) was focused too much in the nature of specifically Christian beliefs, such as the Incarnation and the Atonement, which would be of little significance to non-Christian practitioners of religion, such as Jews, Buddhists, or Zoroastrians. Taylor is, in fact, fully aware of the diversity among religious traditions, but his discussion of the religious outlook still at times tilts greatly towards Christianity. The advantage of Taylor's approach (in emphasizing his own religious commitment)is that it gives the book a sense of immediacy and lived experience. The key difference between secularism and religion for Taylor is that the former tends to see human good and human flourishing as focused solely in this world, in, for example, a happy family, a rewarding career, and service to others, while the religious outlook insists that these goods, while precious are not enough. The religious outlook is Transcendent and sees the primary good in life as beyond all individualized, this-worldly human goods. From a historical perspective, Taylor tries to reject what he calls the "subtraction story". This story sees secularism as resulting purely from the discoveries of science -- such as Darwin's evolution -- taking away assumptions basic to religion leaving a secular, nonreligious world view by default. He offers learned discussions of the medieval period, the reformation and the Enlightenment, of Romanticism and Victorianism as leading to the development of secularism but to new forms of religious awareness as well. The "subtraction story" for Taylor is a gross oversimplification. Secularism, and the religious responses to it, has a complex, convoluted history with many twists and turns. The impetus for both views, Taylor argues is predominantly ethical -- developing views on what is important for human life -- rather than merely epistemological. Taylor's approach seems to me greatly influenced by Hegel. He offers a type of dialectic in which one type of religious belief leads to a resulting series of secularist or religious responses which in turn result in other further variants and responses. In spite of his own religious commitments, he acknoledges, and celebrates, the diversity of options people have today towards both secularism and religion. The book is also deeply influenced by Heidegger (and Wittgenstein) in its emphasis on the unstated and unexamined views towards being in the world that, Taylor finds, underlie both religion and secularism. I found the best portions of the book were those that specifically adressed modern life, as Taylor asseses the importance of an "expressivist" culture, which emphasizes personal fulfillment especially as it involves sexuality, of gender issues and feminism, of this-worldy service to others, and of fanaticism and violence upon issues of secularism and religion. Taylor emphasizes that people today tend to be fluid in their beliefs and to move more frequently than did people in other times between religions, between alternative spiritualities, and, indeed between secularism and religion. He attributes this to the plethora of options in a fragmented age and to a search for meaning among many people that did not seem as pressing in earlier times. Peggy Lee's song "Is that all there is?" is a theme that runs through a great deal of Taylor's book. Taylor has written a difficult, challenging work that is unlikely to change many people's opinions about their own secularism or religion but that may lead to an increased understanding of individuals for their own views and for those of others. This book is not for the casual reader. It will appeal to those who have wrestled for themeselves with questions of spirituality and secularism. Robin Friedman ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A fantastic rabbit hole! *by C***G on March 5, 2026* This book is a wonderful course on the development of the idea of the autonomous individual and the rise of our present day secular world. It’s like sitting in on a graduate level seminar with Taylor. His grasp of Western philosophy is encyclopedic. I have found it quite readable and easy to follow. Absolutely recommend with six stars! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Simply Beautiful *by A***O on December 1, 2007* If stunning beauty can be defined by a work that somehow captures the ideas and forms of expression that precede it, puts them together with new insight into their deeper meaning and power, and then adds an entire new perspective that startles, amazes and brings a deep sense of joy (think of a Mozart symphony or a Monet painting), then "A Secular Age" by Charles Taylor is one of the most intensely beautiful works I've ever read. The work describes what our secular age, and its contrast with the religious age it evolved from really means for us the people who occupy it. I've studied philosophy from many perspectives, and I've never thought of spirituality and religion, or secularity for that matter, in all of these ways. You will feel both uplifted, and wiser as you read it. Taylor has integrated into a construct of religion and philosophy in the modern age the concepts of "lived experiences" of all members of society as they have evolved over recorded history, as opposed to merely the theoretical underpinnings of religion and spirituality as documented by educated elites. He explores the interplay of the lived experiences of the people of a culture or time with the philosophical expressions of thought that initially develop in the educated elites and then interact with the entire population to create a new "social imaginary" - the way people in a given time and culture instinctively and implicitly make sense of things. He weaves this conceptual fabric as a background for which he tells the story of how religious, social and scientific thought have evolved from the "enchanted" time before 1500 to the present, "disenchanted" or secular age. What I think he does so beautifully is to incorporate all aspects of the human "lived experience" into his thesis, from prehistorical tribal rites, to ancient carnival traditions, through forms of artistic expression and to the modern technological and scientific enterprise. It's just amazing to see how well he can blend all of the disparate shards of thought embedded in the landscapes of philosophy, history, anthropology, arts and literature, psychology, economics, politics, sociology and science together into a coherent and compelling story of what it means to be a human today, and how that relates to what it was like to be a human 500, or even 2000 years ago and beyond. As I read I became interested by how many of the evolutionary elements of thought and behavior that he has described still wash through our culture, as if "ontogeny is recapitulating phylogeny". He really describes what I see as networks of change, and I'm still trying to get my thoughts around it, but I can sense something absolutely fascinating in this line of exploration. I think it's the dynamic sense of human culture that he creates that is so exciting to explore with him. He does not so much give answers as he highlights the questions that such a dynamic nature of our existence begs. "A Secular Age" is a masterwork for any true seeker. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/93018388-a-secular-age](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/93018388-a-secular-age) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-06-21*