Read more
George Grant (1918-1988) was one of Canada's foremost public philosophers. Though his thought arose out of reflection on the history of political philosophy, pressing political concerns were never far from view. He was particularly adept at locating the causes of political developments in philosophical movements that were centuries in the making. This book reassesses his ideas in light of philosophical and political developments of recent decades, including the resurgence of nationalism, criticisms of globalization and technocracy, and the ideological realignments having a particularly noticeable effect on right-wing politics. The contemporary reader of Grant is thus able to reflect on his broader criticisms of modernity from within a slightly different historical articulation of modernity. Though George Grant died in 1988, the philosophical themes in his work remain relevant into the 21st century.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Part I: Conservatism and Political Philosophy.- Chapter 2: Tradition or Progressivism? Edmund Burke and George Grant: Partners in Challenging Imperialism and Modernization?.- Chapter 3: Grant, Anglo-Canadian Toryism and the deep critique of liberal modernity.- Chapter 4: George Grant & Simone Weil: Armor Fati and Consenting to Otherness.- Chapter 5: George Grant, Russel Kirk, and the American Technological Republic.- Chapter 6: Title TBA.- Chapter 7: Roger Scruton and George Grant: Ecology and The New Left.- Chapter 8: The Competing Deus ex Machinas of George Grant and Heideggerian Political Thought.- Chapter 9: Still Lamenting? Grantian Conservatism and Nationalism in the 21st Century.- Part II: Democracy, Identity, and Global Politics.- Chapter 10: Grant, Fukuyama, and the Abyss at the End of History.- Chapter 11: George Grant and the Return of the Nation.- Chapter 12: The Democratic Recession as Reversal or Fate of Modernity? A Grantian Perspective.- Chapter 13: Between the Pincers: George Grant, Totalitarianism, and the Role of Political Science.- Chapter 14: George Grant's Reflection on Revolution.- Chapter 15: Does progress need liberalism anymore? On George Grant's Critique of technology.- Chapter 16: George Grant and the Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Triumph of Technology.
About the author
Tyler Chamberlain lectures in political science and philosophy at various institutions including Trinity Western University and Kwantlen Polytechnic University. His primary research interests are early modern political theory and Canadian political thought. He earned his Ph.D in Political Science from Carleton University in 2018.
Summary
George Grant (1918-1988) was one of Canada’s foremost public philosophers. Though his thought arose out of reflection on the history of political philosophy, pressing political concerns were never far from view. He was particularly adept at locating the causes of political developments in philosophical movements that were centuries in the making. This book reassesses his ideas in light of philosophical and political developments of recent decades, including the resurgence of nationalism, criticisms of globalization and technocracy, and the ideological realignments having a particularly noticeable effect on right-wing politics. The contemporary reader of Grant is thus able to reflect on his broader criticisms of modernity from within a slightly different historical articulation of modernity. Though George Grant died in 1988, the philosophical themes in his work remain relevant into the 21st century.
