Western Philosophy 20th century philosophy
Name	Charles Taylor
Birth	November 5, 1931
School/tradition	European/Hegelian
Main interests	Communitarianism Cosmopolitanism Secularism · Faith · Modernity
Influenced by	Aristotle · Hegel · Tocqueville Merleau-Ponty · Weber · Durkheim Wittgenstein · Michael Polanyi · Ricoeur · Heidegger · James
Influenced	Axel Honneth · Michael Walzer

Charles Margrave Taylor (born November 5, 1931), CC GOQ MA DPhil FRSC is a philosopher from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, who has made significant contributions to political philosophy, philosophy of social science, and the history of philosophy. He is often classified as a communitarian, but is uncomfortable with the label. Western philosophy is a modern claim that there is a line of related philosophical thinking, beginning in ancient Greece (Greek philosophy) and the ancient Near East (the Abrahamic religions), that continues to this day. ... The 20th century brought with it upheavals that produced a series of conflicting developments within philosophy over the basis of knowledge and the validity of various absolutes. ... is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Analytic philosophy (sometimes, analytical philosophy) is a generic term for a style of philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century. ... Communitarianism, as a group of related but distinct philosophies, began in the late 20th century, opposing in its opinion exalted forms of individualism while advocating phenomena such as civil society. ... Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community. ... This article is about secularism. ... For other uses, see Faith (disambiguation). ... Modernity is a term used to describe the condition of being related to modernism. ... For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ... Hegel redirects here. ... Tocqueville redirects here. ... Maurice Merleau-Ponty (March 14, 1908 – May 4, 1961) was a French phenomenologist philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl. ... For the politician, see Max Weber (politician). ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Émile Durkheim Émile Durkheim (IPA: ; April 15, 1858 – November 15, 1917) was a French sociologist whose contributions were instrumental in the formation of sociology and anthropology. ... Wittgenstein redirects here. ... Michael Polanyi (born Polányi Mihály) (March 11, 1891 – February 22, 1976) was a Hungarian–British polymath whose thought and work extended across physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy. ... Paul RicÅ“ur (February 27, 1913 Valence France – May 20, 2005 Chatenay Malabry France) was a French philosopher best known for combining phenomenological description with hermeneutic interpretation. ... Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (September 26, 1889 – May 26, 1976) was a German philosopher. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Axel Honneth (1949-) is a professor at the Institut für Sozialforschung in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany (the so-called Frankfurt School. ... Image:Mwalzer large. ... is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Order of Canada is the highest civilian honour within the Canadian system of honours, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the orders Latin motto, taken from Hebrews 11:16, desiderantes meliorem patriam, meaning they desire a better country. ... The National Order of Quebec (French: Ordre national du Québec) is an order of merit bestowed by the government of Quebec, Canada. ... The degree of Master of Arts degree is an undergraduate degree awarded by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge as well as by the University of Dublin. ... Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph. ... The Royal Society of Canada, (French: La Société royale du Canada) The Canadian Academy of the Sciences and Humanities, is the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scientists and scholars. ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... Nickname: Motto: Concordia Salus (well-being through harmony) Coordinates: , Country Province Region Montréal Founded 1642 Established 1832 Government  - Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area [1][2][3]  - City 365. ... This article is about the Canadian province. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what... Philosophy of social science is the scholarly elucidation and debate of accounts of the nature of the social sciences, their relations to each other, and their relations to the natural sciences (see natural science). ... The history of philosophy is the study of philosophical ideas and concepts through time. ... Communitarianism, as a group of related but distinct philosophies, began in the late 20th century, opposing in its opinion exalted forms of individualism while advocating phenomena such as civil society. ...

Career

Charles Taylor, known as "Chuck" to his friends, was educated at McGill University (B.A. in History in 1952). He continued his studies at the University of Oxford, first as a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, (B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1955, and then as a post-graduate, Master of Arts in 1960, Doctor of Philosophy in 1961), under the supervision of Isaiah Berlin and G.E.M. Anscombe. McGill University is a public co-educational research university located in Montréal, Québec, Canada. ... The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Rhodes House in Oxford Rhodes Scholarships were created by Cecil John Rhodes. ... Full name Balliol College Motto - Named after John de Balliol Previous names - Established 1263 Sister College St Johns College, Cambridge Master Andrew Graham (academic) Location Broad Street Undergraduates 403 Graduates 228 Homepage Boatclub Balliol College, founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford... Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) is a popular interdisciplinary degree which combines study from the three eponymous disciplines. ... A Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic masters degree awarded by universities in North America and the United Kingdom (excluding the ancient universities of Scotland and Oxbridge. ... Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph. ... Sir Isaiah Berlin, OM (June 6, 1909 – November 5, 1997) was a political philosopher and historian of ideas, regarded as one of the leading liberal thinkers of the twentieth century. ... Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (March 18, 1919 – January 5, 2001) (known as Elizabeth Anscombe, published as G. E. M. Anscombe) was a British analytic philosopher, a theologian and a pupil of Ludwig Wittgenstein. ...

He succeeded John Plamenatz as Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory in the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College and was for many years Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he is now professor emeritus. Taylor is now Board of Trustees Professor of Law and Philosophy at Northwestern University. Many of his students have gone on to be important philosophers and political theorists. John Petrov Plamenatz (1912–1975) was a Yugoslav political philosopher, who spent most of his academic life at the University of Oxford. ... The Chichele professorial chair in social and political theory is one of the statutory Chichele Professorships at All Souls College, Oxford. ... The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... College name All Souls College Collegium Omnium Animarum Named after Feast of All Souls Established 1438 Sister College Trinity Hall, Cambridge Warden Dr. John Davis JCR President None Undergraduates None MCR President None Graduates 8 (approx. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political Science is the field concerning the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behaviour. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... McGill University is a public co-educational research university located in Montréal, Québec, Canada. ... Nickname: Motto: Concordia Salus (well-being through harmony) Coordinates: , Country Province Region Montréal Founded 1642 Established 1832 Government  - Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area [1][2][3]  - City 365. ... A professor is a senior teacher and researcher, usually in a college or university. ... Northwestern University (NU) is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university with campuses located in Evanston, Illinois and downtown Chicago. ...

In 1995, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 2000, he was made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec. He was awarded the 2007 Templeton Prize for progress towards research or discoveries about spiritual realities, which includes a cash award of US$1.5 million. In 2007 he and Gérard Bouchard were appointed to head a one-year Commission of Inquiry into the "reasonable acccommodation" in his home province of Quebec, Canada.^[1] In June 2008 he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in the arts and philosophy category. The Kyoto Prize is sometimes referred to as the Japanese Nobel.^[2] The Order of Canada is the highest civilian honour within the Canadian system of honours, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the orders Latin motto, taken from Hebrews 11:16, desiderantes meliorem patriam, meaning they desire a better country. ... The National Order of Quebec (French: Ordre national du Québec) is an order of merit bestowed by the government of Quebec, Canada. ... The Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities was until 2001 awarded for Progress in Religion. ... Gérard Bouchard (December 26, 1943 – ) is a historian, sociologist, and writer from Quebec, Canada. ...

Views

In order to understand the stance that Taylor presents in Sources of the Self one should understand his philosophical background, especially his writings on Hegel, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty. Taylor rejects naturalism, mediational epistemologies, and what, following Mikhail Bakhtin, he calls "monological consciousness" (or the intellectualist's perspective). Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770 - November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ... Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), pictured here in 1930, made influential contributions to Logic and the philosophy of language, critically examining the task of conventional philosophy and its relation to the nature of language. ... Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (September 26, 1889 – May 26, 1976) was a German philosopher. ... Maurice Merleau-Ponty (March 14, 1908 - May 4, 1961) was a French phenomenologist philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl, and often somewhat mistakenly classified as an existentialist thinker because of his close association with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and his distinctly Heideggerian conception of Being. ... This article is about methodological naturalism. ... Theory of knowledge redirects here: for other uses, see theory of knowledge (disambiguation) Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, knowledge + λόγος, logos) or theory of knowledge is a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. ... Mikhail Bakhtin. ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ...

Another one of his essays is on Wittgenstein's analysis of rule-following. In the essay "To follow a rule," Taylor explores why it is that people can fail to follow rules and what kind of knowledge is it that allows a person to successfully follow a rule, such as directions to a party or the arrow on a sign. In the intellectualist tradition we would presuppose that to follow directions to a party that we must have in consciousness a set of propositions and premises about how to follow directions. But how do we know whether or not the directions are adequate, i.e. what prevents skepticism of the arrow on a sign or your friends directions to a party? To an intellectualist, before any rule can be followed, all of these issues must already be resolved. For other uses, see Knowledge (disambiguation). ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ... This article is about the word proposition as it is used in logic, philosophy, and linguistics. ... Look up Premise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the psychological term. ...

Taylor argues that Wittgenstein's solution is the articulation of a background of understanding. This background is not more rules or premises, but what Wittgenstein often referred to as "forms of life." More specifically, Wittgenstein says in the Philosophical Investigations that "Obeying a rule is a practice." Since giving reasons for following a rule must end at some point, Taylor locates this in our embodied understandings of the world, that is in the practical mastery we incorporate into our bodies in the form of habits, dispositions, and tendencies. The parallel would be how we learn to drive a car. Driving a car appears to follow rules, but in fact we never need to refer to rules when speeding down the highway. Rather our attention is elsewhere and we seem to rely on the skills we have embodied to constantly adjust and respond to events that we encounter. Taylor says, "Our understanding itself is embodied. That is, our bodily know-how and the way we act and move can encode components of our understanding of self and world." Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), pictured here in 1930, made influential contributions to Logic and the philosophy of language, critically examining the task of conventional philosophy and its relation to the nature of language. ... Book cover of the Blackwell edition of Philosophical Investigations Philosophical Investigations (Philosophische Untersuchungen) is, along with the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, one of the two major works by 20th-century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. ...

Taylor's point is to say that we don't need to posit the human being primarily as the subject of representations in order to understand rule-following behavior or something like driving down the highway. Following Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Michael Polanyi, and of course Wittgenstein, Taylor argues that it is mistaken to presuppose that we are inherently cut off from the world and that our understanding of it is essentially mediated by representations. When we act, for example, we act with our bodies, whether linguistically or through grasping with the hand. But little of what is involved in our action, whether the goals of action or the rule specifying movement, is consciously articulated. In fact, he argues, it is only against an unarticulated background that representations can make sense to us at all. In cognitive psychology a representation is a hypothetical internal cognitive symbol that represents external reality. ... Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (September 26, 1889 – May 26, 1976) was a German philosopher. ... Maurice Merleau-Ponty (March 14, 1908 - May 4, 1961) was a French phenomenologist philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl, and often somewhat mistakenly classified as an existentialist thinker because of his close association with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and his distinctly Heideggerian conception of Being. ... Michael Polanyi (born Polányi Mihály) (March 11, 1891 – February 22, 1976) was a Hungarian–British polymath whose thought and work extended across physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy. ... Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), pictured here in 1930, made influential contributions to Logic and the philosophy of language, critically examining the task of conventional philosophy and its relation to the nature of language. ... Look up movement in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The notion of background helps us approach how it is that we understand in our everyday mode of being. That is, when we walk we have a bodily understanding of where to place the foot, but normally we do not need rules to do this. Rather our ability to walk is a bodily knowledge. Instead, Taylor argues, our ability to follow rules is founded in the relationship between a background of practices and bodily habits. On occasion we do follow rules but Taylor wants us to consider that the rules do not contain the principles of their own applications. As such we need to understand the more complicated relationship between our bodily know-how and the social and historical "forms of life" which explain our actions and of which rules often only supply an after-the-fact explanation and description.

Like one of his teachers G. E. M. Anscombe, Taylor is a practicing Roman Catholic. Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (March 18, 1919 – January 5, 2001) (known as Elizabeth Anscombe, published as G. E. M. Anscombe) was a British analytic philosopher, a theologian and a pupil of Ludwig Wittgenstein. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

Communitarian critique of Liberalism

Taylor is associated with political theorists like Michael Walzer and Michael Sandel, for their communitarian critique of liberal theory's understanding of the "self." Communitarians emphasize the importance of social and communal arrangements and institutions to the development of individual meaning and identity. Image:Mwalzer large. ... Michael Sandel (1943-) is a contemporary political philosopher. ... Communitarianism as a philosophy began in the late 20th century, opposing aspects of liberalism and capitalism while advocating phenomena such as civil society. ...

In his 1991 Massey Lecture, "The Malaise of Modernity," Taylor addressed what he saw as the central problems or "malaises" plaguing modern societies. He argued, among other things, that traditional liberal theory's conceptualization of individual identity is too abstract, instrumentalist, and one dimensional. For Taylor, early theorists from John Locke and Thomas Hobbes to more modern standard bearers of liberal theory like John Rawls and Ronald Dworkin, have neglected the individual's ties to community and those people social theorist George Herbert Mead called significant others. A more realistic understanding of the "self" recognized what Taylor called "horizons of meaning", the important background of social and dialogical relations with others, against which life choices gain importance and meaning. Without this background of meaning, life choices are vulnerable to a Nietzschean reduction, where all life choices are equal in value, thereby becoming, in some sense, meaningless. The Massey Lectures are a prestigious annual event in Canada, in which a noted Canadian or international scholar gives a week-long series of lectures on a political, cultural or philosophical topic. ... Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... For other persons named John Locke, see John Locke (disambiguation). ... Hobbes redirects here. ... John Rawls (February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American philosopher, a professor of political philosophy at Harvard University and author of A Theory of Justice (1971), Political Liberalism, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, and The Law of Peoples. ... Ronald Dworkin (born 1931) is an American legal philosopher, and currently professor of Jurisprudence at University College London and the New York University School of Law. ... George Herbert Mead (February 27, 1863 – April 26, 1931) was an American philosopher, sociologist and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished pragmatists. ... In the television series Andromeda, the Nietzscheans are a race of genetically engineered humans who quite religiously follow the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Social Darwinism and Dawkinite genetic competitiveness. ...

Politics

Taylor was a candidate for the social democratic New Democratic Party in Mount Royal on three occasions in the 1960s, beginning with the 1962 federal election when he came in third place behind Liberal Alan MacNaughton. He improved his standing in 1963, coming in second. Most famously, he also lost in the 1965 election to newcomer and future prime minister, Pierre Trudeau. This campaign garnered national attention since both Taylor and Trudeau were considered intellectuals and "star candidates". Taylor's fourth and final attempt to enter the Canadian House of Commons was in the 1968 federal election, when he came in second as an NDP candidate in the riding of Dollard. Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... This article is about the Canadian political party. ... Mount Royal is the name of a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada. ... The Canadian parliament after the 1962 election The Canadian federal election of 1962 was held on June 18, 1962 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons. ... The Liberal Party of Canada (French: ), colloquially known as the Grits (originally Clear Grits), is a Canadian federal political party. ... Alan Aylesworth Macnaughton (July 30, 1903 - July 16, 1999) was a Canadian parliamentarian and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons from 1963 to 1966. ... Map of Canadas provinces and territories and which party won the most votes in each province and territory and their popular vote. ... In the Canadian federal election of 1965, the Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was re-elected with a larger number of seats in the Canadian House of Commons. ... Regions Political culture Foreign relations Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      The Prime Minister of Canada (French: Premier ministre du Canada), is the Minister of the Crown who is head of the Government of Canada. ... “Trudeau” redirects here. ... Literati redirects here. ... In Canada, a star candidate refers to a high profile individual who has been recruited as a candidate by a political party. ... Type Lower House Speaker Peter Milliken, Liberal since January 29, 2001 Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Peter Van Loan, Conservative since January 4, 2007 Opposition House Leader Ralph Goodale, Liberal since January 23, 2006 Members 308 Political groups Conservative Party Liberal Party Bloc Québécois... In the Canadian federal election of June 25, 1968, the Liberal Party won a majority government under its new leader, Pierre Trudeau. ... Dollard was a former federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons, and located in the province of Quebec. ...

Interlocutors

• Hubert Dreyfus
• Bernard Williams
• Alasdair MacIntyre
• Martha Nussbaum
• Quentin Skinner
• Talal Asad
• Arjun Appadurai
• Paul Berman
• William E. Connolly
• Robert Bellah

Hubert Lederer Dreyfus (born October 15, 1929 in Terre Haute, Indiana to Stanley S. and Irene Lederer Dreyfus), is a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. ... Bernard Arthur Owen Williams (September 21, 1929 – June 10, 2003) was a British philosopher, widely cited as the most important British moral philosopher of his time. ... Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre (born January 12, 1929 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a philosopher primarily known for his contribution to moral and political philosophy but known also for his work in history of philosophy and theology. ... Martha Nussbaum Martha Nussbaum (born Martha Craven on May 6, 1947) is an American philosopher with a particular interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, political philosophy and ethics. ... // Quentin Robert Duthie Skinner (born 26 November 1940) is Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University. ... Talal Asad is an anthropoligist at the City University of New York who has made important theoretical contributions to Post-Colonialism, Christianity, Islam, and Ritual Studies and has recently called for, and initiated, an anthropology of Secularism. ... Born in Bombay,India in 1949 and educated in the United States, Arjun Appadurai is a contemporary social-cultural anthropologist whose work centers on the ethnographic landscapes of modernity and globalization. ... Paul Berman is a prominent liberal American intellectual. ... William E. Connolly is the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. ... Robert Neelly Bellah is a sociologist at University of California at Berkeley and author of a number of books including Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. ...

Notes

1. ^ http://www.accommodements.qc.ca/index-en.html
2. ^ http://www.kyotoprize.org/pressrel_062008_taylor.htm

Selected Books by Taylor

• 1964. The Explanation of Behavior.
• 1975. Hegel.
• 1979. Hegel and Modern Society.
• 1985. Philosophical Papers (2 volumes).
• 1989. Sources of the Self: The Making of Modern Identity. Harvard University Press
• 1992. The Malaise of Modernity, being the published version of Taylor's Massey Lectures. Reprinted in the U.S. as The Ethics of Authenticity. Harvard University Press
• 1994. Multiculturalism: Examining The Politics of Recognition.
• 1995. Philosophical Arguments. Harvard University Press
• 1999. A Catholic Modernity?.
• 2002. Varieties of Religion Today: William James Revisited. Harvard University Press

• 2004. Modern Social Imaginaries.
• 2007. A Secular Age. Harvard University Press

Hegel redirects here. ... The Massey Lectures are a prestigious annual event in Canada, in which a noted Canadian or international scholar gives a week-long series of lectures on a political, cultural or philosophical topic. ...

Bibliography

• 2005 : Emile Perreau-Saussine, Une spiritualité démocratique ? Alasdair MacIntyre et Charles Taylor en conversation, Revue française de science politique, vol. 55 (2), Avril 2005, p. 299-315[1]

Hounslow, Adam, The conception of human nature in modern political thought : with special reference to the work of Charles Taylor, University of Hull, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis.

See also

• List of famous Montrealers
• List of Montreal philosophers

This is a list of notable people from Montreal. ... List of famous and notable philosophers of Montreal. ...

External links

• Website at Northwestern University
• The Immanent Frame a blog with posts by Taylor, Robert Bellah, and others concerning Taylor's book A Secular Age
• Text of Taylor's essay "Overcoming Epistemology"
• Charles Taylor's syndicated op/ed column
• Bibliography of Taylor's works and works on Taylor's philosophy
• Links to secondary sources, reviews of Taylor's works, reading notes
• Lecture notes to Charles Taylor's talk on Religion and Violence (with a link to the audio) Nov 2004
• Lecture notes to Charles Taylor's talk on 'An End to Mediational Epistemology', Nov 2004
• Study guide to Philosophical Arguments and Philosophical Papers 2
• Templeton Prize announcement

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Robert Neelly Bellah is a sociologist at University of California at Berkeley and author of a number of books including Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. ...

Videos online

• (French) «Rencontre avec Charles Taylor» (25/11/2001) ; Chasseurs d’idées, Télé-Québec.
• (French) «La religion dans la Cité des modernes : un divorce sans issue?» (14/10/2006) ; Charles Taylor and Pierre Manent, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, «Les grandes conférences Argument».