George Grant (philosopher)
George Grant | |
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Born | George Parkin Grant 13 November 1918 |
Died | 27 September 1988 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | (aged 69)
Spouse |
Sheila Allen (m. 1947) |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | |
Thesis | The Concept of Nature and Supernature in the Theology of John Oman (1950) |
Influences | |
Academic work | |
Discipline | |
Notable works | Lament for a Nation (1965) |
Influenced |
George Parkin Grant OC FRSC (13 November 1918 – 27 September 1988) was a Canadian philosopher, university professor and social critic. He is known for his Canadian nationalism, a political conservatism that affirms the values of community, equality and justice and his critical, philosophical analysis of the social and political effects of limitless technological progress. As a practising Christian, Grant conceived of time as the moving image of an eternal order illuminated by love.[7]
Many of his writings express a complex meditation on and dialogue with the great thinkers of Western civilization including the "ancients" such as Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine of Hippo as well as "moderns" such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Leo Strauss, James Doull, Simone Weil and Jacques Ellul. Grant distinguished between civilizations of antiquity in which people believed that sacred stories, rituals and myths revealed universal order and the civilizations of modernity that came into being with the rise of Western science, the rapid development of industrial technologies and the prevailing belief that human beings are free to create (or will) their own order.[8][9][10]
"We can hold in our minds the enormous benefits of technological society, but we cannot so easily hold the ways it may have deprived us," Grant wrote, "because technique is ourselves." He argued that the technological society has destroyed "the very systems of meaning" along with the language that expressed the highest human purposes. "Our vision of ourselves as freedom in an indifferent world could only have arisen in so far as we had analyzed to disintegration those systems of meaning, given in myth, philosophy and revelation, which had held sway over our progenitors."[11]
Grant vigorously opposed euthanasia, which he defined as "deliberately causing the death of someone who is not already dying," and abortion, except where the mother's life is in danger, or in psychologically traumatizing instances of rape, especially of young girls. In the case of abortion, he argued that a woman's right to choose one "can only be made law by denying to another member of our species the right to exist" and, in the case of euthanasia, he wrote that rather than killing patients, doctors can alleviate their pain and fear. He warned that legal access to euthanasia (or assisted suicide) and abortion on demand could result in the killing of people considered less human or less valuable such as the aged, handicapped or the infirm.[12]
Although he is considered the main theoretician of
Family
Grant was born in Toronto on 13 November 1918, the son of Maude Erskine (née Parkin) and William Lawson Grant.[15] He came from a distinguished Canadian family of scholars and educators. His father was the principal of Upper Canada College, and his paternal grandfather George Monro Grant was the dynamic principal of Queen's University. His maternal grandfather was Sir George Robert Parkin, also a principal at Upper Canada College, whose daughter Alice married Vincent Massey, the Canadian diplomat and first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.[16] Both of his grandfathers were strong proponents of the bonds between Canada and the British Empire, and this greatly influenced their grandson.[17] His nephew Michael Ignatieff is a public intellectual and former Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons.[18] His niece Caroline Andrew was a political scientist.[19][20] On 1 July 1947 he married Sheila Allen[21] whom he had met at Oxford.[citation needed]
Education and teaching
Grant was educated at
In George Grant: A Biography his struggles as a self-taught philosopher are highlighted.[25]
Grant was not readily accepted into the traditional academic community of scholars in Canada. Resistance was provoked by some of Grant's less "progressive" stances, most notably the
Throughout his career Grant was seen as a unique voice within academic institutions, and thus had strong appeal beyond the strict "community of scholars". In fact, Grant criticized the trend in universities to move away from the "unity" of the traditional academy to a "multi-versity" comprising separate hives of undergraduate students, graduate students, professional faculties, and professors (years before the American Allan Bloom would become famous for similar themes).[27]
Grant died from pancreatic cancer on 27 September 1988, at the age of 69.[28]
Politics and philosophy
Part of the Politics series on |
Toryism |
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Conservatism in Canada |
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In 1965 Grant published his most widely known work,
The subjects of his books, essays, public lectures, and radio addresses (many on CBC Radio in Canada) quite frequently combined philosophy, religion, and political thought. Grant strongly critiqued what he believed were the worst facets of
His first book, Philosophy in the Mass Age (1959), was his most explicitly Hegelian book. It began as a series of
Grant's last work was Technology and Justice (1986), which he prepared together with his wife, Sheila Grant. His three-decades-long meditation on French philosopher Simone Weil's works led to the conclusion that there were fundamental moral and spiritual flaws in Western civilization, consigning it to a fate of inevitable collapse. Nevertheless, Grant affirmed his belief that a better civilization could eventually replace it.[36]
Honours
In 1981, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for having "become a major force in Canadian intellectual life"[37] and was also awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Pierre Chauveau Medal. He was also a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
In 1965 Grant's book Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of Canadian Nationalism was voted one of The Literary Review of Canada's 100 most important Canadian books.[38]
Archives
The George Grant fonds is held by Library and Archives Canada. The archival reference number is R4526; the former archival reference number is MG31-D75. The fonds consists of 6 metres of textual records, 25 photographs, and a small amount of other media.[39] The description includes a finding aid.[40]
Works
- The Empire, Yes or No? Ryerson Press, (1945).
- Philosophy in the Mass Age. CBC, (1959)
- Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of Canadian Nationalism. McClelland & Stewart, (1965).
- Time as History. CBC, (1969).
- Technology and Empire : Perspectives on North America. Anansi, (1969)
- English-speaking Justice. Mount Allison University, (1974).
- Grant, G.P. (1976). "The Computer Does Not Impose on Us the Ways It Should Be Used". In W. Christian & S. Grant (Eds.), The George Grant Reader. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press
- Technology and Justice. Anansi, (1986).
- George Grant: selected letters edited, with an introduction by William Christian. University of Toronto Press, (1996).
- The George Grant Reader. William Christian and Sheila Grant (editors). University of Toronto Press, (1998)
- Collected Works of George Grant. Arthur Davis (editor). University of Toronto Press, (2000)
See also
References
Citations
- ^ Christian 1993, p. 228; Forbes 2007, pp. 116, 126.
- ^ Christian 1993, p. 228.
- ^ Grant 2009, p. 265.
- ^ French, Orland (12 January 2002). "Lives of the Intellectual Saints". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ Fawcett 2021.
- ^ Heidebrecht, Paul C. (2006). "A Prescription for the Ills of Modernity? Understanding A. James Reimer's Approach to Theology". The Mennonite Quarterly Review. 80 (2). Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ Christian & Grant 1998, pp. 3–31.
- ^ Christian & Grant 1998, pp. 8–32.
- ISBN 9780802079497.
- ^ Forbes 2011; Kinzel 2009, pp. 10–11, 15.
- ISBN 088784605X.
- ^ Grant, George (1986). Technology & Justice. Toronto: House of Anansi. pp. 103–130.
- ^ Christian 2006.
- ^ a b Meynell 2011, pp. 107–108.
- ^ Forbes 2011; Rigelhof 2001, pp. 18, 156.
- ^ "Vincent Massey" (PDF). The Century Association Archives Foundation. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
Massey married Alice Parkin ... in 1915... Through the marriage, Massey later became the uncle of George Grant...
- ^ Massolin 1998, p. 4.
- ^ "George Grant Was 'Wrong, Wrong, Wrong'". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ Andrew-Gee, Eric (3 February 2023). "Opinion: My aunt Caroline Andrew built bridges between English and French Canada". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ "GRANT, WILLIAM LAWSON". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ Forbes 2011.
- ^ Meynell 2011, p. 108; Rigelhof 2001, pp. 18, 160.
- ^ Rigelhof 2001, pp. 15, 41, 160.
- ^ Rigelhof 2001, pp. 41, 160.
- ^ a b Christian 1993.
- ^ Grant 1979.
- ^ Grant 1950.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Forbes 2007, p. 19.
- ^ Grant 1995, pp. 57–63.
- ^ Grant 1998, p. 34.
- ^ Meynell 2011, p. 117.
- ISBN 0920393004.
- ^ Cayley 1995, p. vii.
- ^ Mathie 1998.
- ^ Christian 2013.
- ^ "Order of Canada". Archived from the original on 10 March 2007. Retrieved 25 January 2006.
- ^ "The LRC 100 (Part One)". Literary Review of Canada. January–February 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ George Grant fonds description at Library and Archives Canada
- ^ George Grant finding aid at Library and Archives Canada
Works cited
- ISBN 978-0-88784-553-6.
- JSTOR 10.3138/j.ctt14jxwjb. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- JSTOR 10.3138/9781442681361.
- ; Peters, Randy Peg (eds.). Athens and Jerusalem: George Grant's Theology, Philosophy, and Politics. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- . Toronto: Historica Canada. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- Fawcett, Brett (28 October 2021). "The Canadian Socrates: Analyzing George Grant's Theopolitical Project". The Canadian Journal for Scholarship and the Christian Faith. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
- Forbes, Hugh Donald (2007). George Grant: A Guide to His Thought. Toronto: University of Toronto. ISBN 978-0-8020-8142-1.
- ——— (2011). "Grant, George Parkin". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. 21. Toronto and Quebec City: University of Toronto and Université Laval. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- Grant, George (1950). The Teaching of Philosophy in English-Speaking Canada (draft copy). Hilda Neatby Papers. University of Saskatchewan Archives. II. 93.
- ——— (1979). "Nietzsche and the Ancients: Philosophy and Scholarship". Dionysius. 3. ISSN 0705-1085. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ——— (1995). Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of Canadian Nationalism. Ottawa: Carleton University Press.
- ——— . "What Is Philosophy?". In Christian & Grant (1998), pp. 33–39.
- ——— (2009). "English-Speaking Justice: The Josiah Wood Lectures, 1974". In Davis, Arthur; Roper, Henry (eds.). Collected Works of George Grant. Vol. 4. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 190–268. JSTOR 10.3138/9781442687677.
- Kinzel, Till (2009). "Metaphysics, Politics, and Philosophy: George Grant's Response to Pragmatism" (PDF). Cultura. 6 (1): 7–21. ISSN 1584-1057. Archived from the original(PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- Massolin, Philip (1998). "What's Past Is Prologue": Canadian Intellectuals, the Tory Tradition and the Challenge of Modernity, 1939–1970 (PDF) (PhD thesis). Edmonton: University of Alberta. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- Mathie, William (1998). "Abortion and the Crisis of Liberal Justice: George Grant on the Meaning of Roe v. Wade" (PDF). Life and Learning. Vol. 8. pp. 59–69. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- Meynell, Robert (2011). Canadian Idealism and the Philosophy of Freedom: C.B. Macpherson, George Grant, and Charles Taylor. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. JSTOR j.ctt815fz.
- ISBN 978-0-9688166-8-4.
Further reading
- Andrew, Edward (2015) [1988]. "George Grant on Technological Imperatives". In Day, Richard B.; Beiner, Ronald; Masciulli, Joseph (eds.). Democratic Theory and Technological Society. Abingdon, England: Routledge. pp. 299ff. ISBN 978-1-315-49357-2.
- ISBN 978-0-88946-715-6.
- Athanasiadis, Harris (2001). George Grant and the Theology of the Cross. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. JSTOR 10.3138/9781442675278.
- Badertscher, John (1978). "George P. Grant and Jacques Ellul on Freedom in Technological Society". In Schmidt, Larry (ed.). George Grant in Process: Essays and Conversations. Toronto: House of Anansi Press. ISBN 978-0-88784-064-7.
- Barros, James (1986). No Sense of Evil: Espionage, the Case of Herbert Norman. Toronto: Deneau. ISBN 978-0-88879-142-9.
- Combs, Eugene, ed. (1983). Modernity and Responsibility: Essays for George Grant. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. JSTOR 10.3138/j.ctt1h1hr59.
- ISSN 2369-0070. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- Davis, Arthur, ed. (1996). George Grant and the Subversion of Modernity: Art, Philosophy, Religion, Politics and Education. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. JSTOR 10.3138/9781442675261.
- Ellul, Jacques (1965). The Technological Society. Translated by Wilkerson, John. New York: Vintage Books.
- Flinn, Frank K. (1981). George Grant's Critique of Technological Liberalism (PhD thesis). Toronto: University of St. Michael's College. OCLC 221886469.
- Grant, George (1973). "Impressions of George Grant". Impressions (television production). Interviewed by Cook, Ramsay. CBC. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- JSTOR j.ctt7zs7m.
- Kinzel, Till (1999). "George Grant – ein kanadischer Philosoph als antimoderner Kulturkritiker" (PDF). Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien (in German). 19: 185–200. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-920393-14-7.
- Lee, Dennis (1990). "Grant's Impasse". In Emberley, Peter C. (ed.). By Loving Our Own: George Grant and the Legacy of Lament for a Nation. Ottawa: Carleton University Press. pp. 11–40. JSTOR j.ctt7zs7m.
- Mathie, William (1978). "The Technological Regime: George Grant's Analysis of Modernity". In Schmidt, Larry (ed.). George Grant in Process: Essays and Conversations. Toronto: House of Anansi Press. ISBN 978-0-88784-064-7.
- O'Donovan, Joan E. (1984). George Grant and the Twilight of Justice. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-5637-5. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- Sibley, Robert C. (2008). Northern Spirits: John Watson, George Grant, and Charles Taylor – Appropriations of Hegelian Political Thought. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. JSTOR j.ctt80jbs.
- Siebert, John W. H. (1988). George Grant's Troubled Appropriation of Martin Heidegger on the Question Concerning Technology (MA thesis). Toronto: University of St. Michael's College. ISBN 978-0-315-51243-6.
- Umar, Yusuf K., ed. (1991). George Grant and the Future of Canada. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press. ISBN 978-1-895176-22-3.
- Whillier, Wayne, ed. (1990). Two Theological Languages by George Grant and Other Essays in Honour of His Work. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0-88946-882-5.