The George Grant Reader.

George Parkin Grant (Toronto, November 13, 1918 - Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 27, 1988) was a Canadian philosopher, teacher and political commentator, whose popular appeal peaked in the late 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his nationalism, political conservatism, comments on technology, Christian faith, and his conservative views regarding abortion; although, academically, his writings express a rich and deep mediation on the great books, and confrontation with the great thinkers of Western Civilization. His influences include the "ancients" such as Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine of Hippo, as well as Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Leo Strauss, Simone Weil, and Jacques Ellul. In terms of Canadian politics, he was considered the main theoritician of what became known as Red Toryism. Image File history File links GeorgeGrantReader. ... Image File history File links GeorgeGrantReader. ... November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Please read first: This article is about the Nova Scotia community. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 95 days remaining. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1961 to 1970, inclusive. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1971 to 1980, inclusive. ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix Nationalism is an ideology that holds that (ethnically or culturally defined) nations are the fundamental units for human social life, and makes certain cultural and political claims based upon that belief; in particular, the claim that the nation is the only legitimate... Conservatism is a philosophy defined by Edmund Burke as a disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve.[1] The term derives from conserve; from Latin conservare, to keep, guard, observe. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a level of technological mastery sufficient to leave the surface of the planet for the first time and explore space. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. ... For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ... Plato ( Greek: Πλάτων, Plátōn, wide, broad-shouldered) (c. ... Aristotle (Ancient Greek: Aristotélēs 384 – March 7, 322 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... Aurelius Augustinus, Augustine of Hippo, or Saint Augustine (November 13, 354–August 28, 430) was one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (IPA:) (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900), a German philologist and philosopher, produced critiques of contemporary culture, religion, and philosophy centered around a basic question regarding the positive and negative attitudes toward life of various systems of morality. ... Martin Heidegger (September 26, 1889 – May 26, 1976) was a German philosopher. ... Leo Strauss (September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973), was an American political philosopher of German-Jewish extraction, who specialized in the revitalization of classical philosophy at the University of Chicago. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Jacques Ellul (January 6, 1912–May 19, 1994) was a French philosopher, sociologist, theologian, and Christian anarchist. ... Red Tory is an appellation given to a political tradition in Canadas conservative political parties. ...

Family legacy

Grant 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 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. Upper Canada College (UCC) is an all-male elementary and secondary school in Toronto, Canada, the oldest independent school in the province of Ontario, and the third oldest school in Canada. ... George Monro Grant (December 22, 1835 – May 10, 1902), principal of Queens College, Kingston, Ontario, was born in Albion Mines (Stellarton), Pictou County Nova Scotia in 1835. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Upper Canada College (UCC) is an all-male elementary and secondary school in Toronto, Canada, the oldest independent school in the province of Ontario, and the third oldest school in Canada. ... The Right Honourable Charles Vincent Massey, CC PC (February 20, 1887 - December 30, 1967) was the eighteenth Governor General of Canada and the first who was born in Canada. ... The Governor General of Canada (French: Gouverneure générale du Canada or Gouverneur général du Canada) is the representative of the Canadian monarch. ...

Education and teaching

Grant was educated at Upper Canada College and Queen's University, and later attended the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. Upon winning the Rhodes Scholarship, he enrolled towards a degree in Law at Oxford, but after World War II ended, and Grant had experienced a deeper personal bond with Christianity, he decided to change studies. His D. Phil was in theology but he later taught in departments of Philosophy (Dalhousie), Religion (McMaster), and Political Science (Dalhousie). Upper Canada College (UCC) is an all-male elementary and secondary school in Toronto, Canada, the oldest independent school in the province of Ontario, and the third oldest school in Canada. ... Queens University, or simply Queens, is a coeducational, nonsectarian university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on the edge of Lake Ontario. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Rhodes House in Oxford The Rhodes Scholarships were created by Cecil Rhodes and have been awarded to applicants annually since 1902 by the Oxford-based Rhodes Trust on the basis of academic qualities, as well as those of character. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... Dalhousie University is a university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. ... McMaster University is a medium-sized research-intensive university located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with an enrollment of 16,771 full-time and 3,599 part-time students (as of 2004). ... Political science is an academic and research discipline that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. ... Dalhousie University is a university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. ...

Grant was not readily accepted into the traditional academic community of scholars in Canada. Notably, a definition of philosophy he published in 1949, namely that "The study of philosophy is the analysis of the traditions of our society and the judgment of those traditions against our varying intuitions of the Perfections of God" angered and upset Fulton Anderson of the University of Toronto’s Philosophy department. Grant’s definition is telling, in that it marks his unique take on the human perspective on philosophy, which did not necessarily include assumptions regarding the ‘objectivity’ of science, or the blind acceptance of the Enlightenment’s Fact-value distinction. 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... The University of Toronto (U of T), in Toronto, Ontario, is the largest university in Canada. ... The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a period which includes the Age of Reason. ... The fact-value distinction is a concept used to distinguish between arguments which can be claimed through reason alone, and those where rationality is limited to describing a collective opinion. ...

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 from the ‘unity’ of the traditional academy to a ‘multi-versity’ of separate hives of students, graduate students and professors years before American Allan Bloom would become famous for similar themes. Raphaels portrait of Plato, a detail of The School of Athens fresco An an institution for the study of (usually) higher learning. ... Allan Bloom, in his middle age. ...

Politics and philosophy

In 1965, he published Lament for a Nation which regretted what he claimed was Canada's inevitable absorption by the United States. Grant articulated a political philosophy which was becoming known as Red Toryism which promoted the collectivist and communitarian aspects of an older English conservative tradition, which stood in direct opposition to the individualist traditions of liberalism, and subsequently neo-liberalism. 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Red Tory is an appellation given to a political tradition in Canadas conservative political parties. ... This article discusses liberalism as a major worldwide political ideology, its development, and its many modern-day variations. ... The term neoliberalism is used to describe a political-economic philosophy that had major implications for government policies beginning in the 1970s – and increasingly prominent since 1980 – that de-emphasizes or rejects positive government intervention in the economy, focusing instead on achieving progress and even social justice by encouraging free...

The subjects of his books, essays, public lectures and radio addresses (frequently on CBC Radio in Canada) quite frequently combined philosophy, religion, and political thought. Grant strongly critiqued what he believed were the worst facets of modernity, namely unbridled technological advancement and a loss of moral foundations to guide humanity. What he proposed in place of the modern spirit was a synthesis of Christian and Platonic thought which embodied contemplation of the 'good.' It has been suggested that Modern Times (history) be merged into this article or section. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. ... Plato ( Greek: Πλάτων, Plátōn, wide, broad-shouldered) (c. ...

An extraordinary public communicator, his first book, Philosophy in the Mass Age (1959), began as a series of CBC lectures. In it he posed the question of how human beings could reconcile moral freedom with acceptance of the view that an order existed in the universe beyond space and time. In 1965, furious that the Liberal government had accepted nuclear weapons, he published Lament for a Nation. This short work created a sensation with its argument that Canada was destined to disappear into a universal and homogeneous state whose centre was the United States. Technology and Empire (1969), a collection of essays edited by poet and friend Dennis Lee, deepened his critique of technological modernity and Time as History, his 1969 Massey Lectures, explained the worsening predicament of the West through an examination of the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche. Grant's works of the 1960s had a strong influence on the nationalist movement of the 1970s, though many of the New Left were uncomfortable with Grant's conservatism, his conventional Anglican Tory beliefs and Christian-Platonist perspective. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Cipher-block chaining ... 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. ... High Church is a term that may now be used in speaking of viewpoints within a number of denominations of Protestant Christianity in general, but it is one which has traditionally been employed in Churches associated with the Anglican tradition in particular. ... Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is a school of philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century A.D. Based on the teachings of Plato and the Platonists, it contained enough unique interpretations of Plato that some view Neoplatonism as substantively different from what Plato wrote and believed. ...

Grant's last work was Technology and Justice (1986), which he prepared together with his wife. Concluding from his three decades-long meditation on French philosopher Simone Weil's works, he declared that there were fundamental moral and spiritual flaws in Western civilization, consigning it to a fate of inevitable collapse. Nevertheless, Grant stated he believed a better civilization could eventually replace it. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

At the time of his death in 1988, Grant was seen as the exemplar Red Tory in Canada; and while he eventually came to transcend the temporal world of politics, his toryism has continued to define the framework for a gentle and thoughtful Nationalism in Canada.

Honours

In 1981, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for having "become a major force in Canadian intellectual life" [1] and was also awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Pierre Chauveau Medal. He also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. The Order of Canada is Canadas highest civilian honour, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the Orders Latin motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means, Desiring a better country. ... 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. ... The Pierre Chauveau Medal is an award of the Royal Society of Canada for a distinguished contribution to knowledge in the humanities other than Canadian literature and Canadian history. It is named in honour of Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau and is awarded bi-annually. ...

List of 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, 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)

Works as subject

• George Grant in Process: Essays and Coversations. Larry Schmidt (editor). House of Anansi Press, (1978).
• Modernity and Responsibility : essays for George Grant. Eugene Combs, (editor). University of Toronto Press, (1983).
• George Grant: A Biography. William Christian, University of Toronto Press, 1994.
• George Grant in Conversation. David Cayley. Anansi, (1995).
• Two theological languages by George Grant and Other essays in honour of his work. Wayne Whillier, (editor) E. Mellen Press (1990).

Articles on subject

• Andrew, E. (1988). George Grant on technological imperatives. In R. Beiner, R. Day, & J. Masciulli (Eds.), Democratic theory and technological society. Armonk, NY: Sharpe.
• Angus, I. (1987). George Grant’s Platonic rejoinder to Heidegger. Lewiston, NY: Edward Mellon.
• Athanasiadis, H. (2001). George Grant and the theology of the Cross. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
• Badertscher, J. (1978). George P. Grant and Jacques Ellul on freedom in technological society. In L. Schmidt (Ed.), George Grant in process: Essays and conversations. Toronto, Canada: Anansi.
• Barros, J. (1986). No sense of evil: Espionage, the case of Herbert Norman. Toronto, Canada: Deneau.
• Cayley, D. (1995). George Grant in conversation. Toronto, Canada: Anansi.
• Christian, W. (1993). George Grant: A biography. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
• Davis, A. (Ed.). (1996). George Grant and the subversion of modernity. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
• Ellul, J. (1965). The technological society (John Wilkerson, Trans.). New York: Vintage.
• Flinn, F. (1981). George Grant’s critique of technological liberalism. Doctoral thesis, St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto.
• Horowitz, G. (1990). Commentary. In P. C. Emberley (Ed.), By loving our own: George Grant and the legacy of Lament for a nation. Ottawa, Canada: Carleton University Press.
• Kroker, A. (1984). Technology and the Canadian mind. Montreal, Canada: New World Perspectives.
• Lee, D. (1990). Grant’s impasse. In P. C. Emberley (Ed.), By loving our own: George Grant and the legacy of "Lament for a Nation." Ottawa, Canada: Carleton University Press.
• Mathie, W. (1978). The technological regime: George Grant’s analysis of modernity. In L. Schmidt (Ed.), George Grant in process: Essays and conversations. Toronto, Canada: Anansi.
• McHughen, A. (2000). Pandora’s picnic basket: The potential and hazard of genetically modified foods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Rigelhof, T. L. (2001). George Grant: Redefining Canada. Montreal, Canada: XYZ Publishers.
• Siebert, J. W. H. (1988). George Grant’s troubled appropriation of Martin Heidegger on the question concerning technology. Master’s thesis, St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto.
• Umar, Y. K. (Ed.). (1991). George Grant and the future of Canada. Calgary, Canada: University of Calgary Press.

References

• Christian, William (2005). "Grant, George Parkin". Retrieved Oct. 31, 2005.

External links

• A 40th anniversary retrospective of the Lament