Northern Spirits

Canadians have devoted considerable thought to Hegel - a proposition born out by the work of John Watson, George Grant, and Charles Taylor, three major Canadian political philosophers of the last century. In "Northern Spirits", Robert Sibley examines how Watson, Grant, and Taylor found in Hegel the theoretical tools needed to respond to Canada's uncertain existence. The recovery of Watson's thought is particularly valuable. Sibley shows that Watson, an internationally respected philosopher in the early twentieth century, discussed idealism and support for imperialism in ways that are particularly relevant in our new age of empire. A consideration of Grant's relationship to Hegel illuminates what led Grant to declare that Canada was "impossible" in the age of technology. Sibley's comparison of Grant and Trudeau is both unexpected and intriguing. So, too, is his analysis of the "illiberal strands" in Taylor's "politics of recognition." Ending with a surprising reprise of these three Hegelians, Sibley concludes that, as Canada confronts globalization, continentalism, and terrorism in the twenty-first century, Hegel still has much to say to Canadians.