The Modern Man in the Precipice between Descartean Ideal of Morality and the (Post)Modern Cultural Habitus

Proboj zapadne europske filozofske misli na čijem se začelju pojavljuje ime francuskog mislioca R. Descartesa za sobom je donijelo oživljavanje čovjekove svijesti – tzv. post-renesansno intelektualno buđenje koje je navijestilo i označilo početak novog – modernoga doba, koje je na spoznajnoteorijskoj razini prepoznato kao početak vladavine instrumentalnog (raz)uma, odnosno, hegemonije Descartesovog cogita. U ovome radu nastoji se istražiti, pojasniti i protumačiti ulogu i značaj cogita u odnosu na moralno djelovanje modernoga čovjeka u percepciji suvremenog i glasovitog kanadskog filozofa, teoretičara i mislioca Charlesa Taylora. Ima li (raz)um doista ekskluzivni primat nad čovjekovim djelovanjem, te kako u svjetlu (raz)uma objasniti i razumjeti krizu ethosa suvremenog čovjeka i pokušati pronaći adekvatno rješenje za pitanje globalne krize morala koja je zahvatila kompletnu civilizaciju našeg doba? – samo su neka među sličnim pitanjima koja će se propitati u ovome radu.The breakthrough of the Western European philosophic thought, whose final name is that of the French theorist R. Descartes, brought with it the revival of man’s conscience or the so-called post-Renaissance intellectual awakening, which announced and signified the beginning of a new – modern age, that was recognized on the cognitive-theoretical level as the beginning of the rule of instrumental reason, that is, the hegemony of the Descartean cogito. This presentation tends to research, clarify and interpret the role and the significance of the cogito in relationship with man’s moral action and generally, with the theory of morality of the modern Canadian philosopher, theorist and thinker Charles Taylor. Does reason indeed hold exclusive supremacy over man’s actions and how does one explain and understand the crisis of the modern man’s ethos in the light of reason, and try to find an adequate solution for the issue of a global morality crisis, which has taken over the entire civilization of our time? – are only some among a number of similar questions that will be discussed in this paper