Is There a Canadian Philosophy?: Reflections on the Canadian Identity by G.B. Madison, Paul Fairfield, Ingrid Harris (review)

HUMANITIES 149 arching themes are solid pieces in and of themselves. Nearly all succeed in placing Canadian developments in the wider context of North America, Europe, and even beyond (with several, for example, noting interesting parallels with Australia). The significance of the comparative perspective is clear from start to finish. While it is impossible to do justice to particular essays in a brief review and risky even to offer a sampling of the rich contents, a few points can be noted. David Martin, Roger O=Toole, and Danièle Hervieu-Léger serve the reader well in the first group of essays by identifying and analysing broad patterns which they find in the practice of religion over the last few centuries. Martin=s discussion of secularization in Canada is notable given his extensive study of this process in other settings. His use of >shadow establishment= as a way of describing the political role of churches in Canada until recently is an apt image picked up by other contributors. Since more contributors were drawn to analysis of evangelical Protestantism or Catholicism than mainstream Protestantism, O=Toole=s comments on that beleaguered group of denominations are worth highlighting. His intriguing discussion of the role of collective memory, in which he challenges mainstream Protestantism to remember the lessons of creative engagement with modernity that characterized its past, makes use of the work of Hervieu-Léger, whose own essay is a thought-provoking analysis of trends in contemporary spirituality. Other contributors follow with studies of more specific cases and issues. Kevin Christiano and George Egerton tackle constitutional questions which have become more complex in multicultural societies, while John Stackhouse explores the way denominations and >special purpose groups= have approached political leaders on social issues since 1960. The comparative dimension of the book is enhanced in yet another fashion with essays by David Seljak, Gregory Baum, and Harry Hiller that consider secularization and the privatization of religious belief after Quebec=s Quiet Revolution. The trend towards >believing without belonging= which is touched on in several of the essays is analysed in depth by Peter Beyer, Sam Reimer, and Andrew Grenville, the latter supported by substantial polling data. A tip of the hat to postmodern paradigms is evident in Nancy Nason-Clark=s consideration of the impact of notions of empowerment on evangelical women responding to situations of domestic violence and in John Simpson =s discussion of >body politics.= Will Katerburg=s fine essay with its keen analysis of the impact of consumerism and globalization on religious belief and practice provides a fitting conclusion to the volume, raising a fresh round of questions which one hopes will provoke even further rethinking of church, state, and modernity so capably launched with publication of this book. (PHYLLIS AIRHART) G.B. Madison, Paul Fairfield, and Ingrid Harris. 150 LETTERS IN CANADA 2000 Is There a Canadian Philosophy?: Reflections on the Canadian Identity University of Ottawa Press. viii, 218. $28.00 A question is an intriguing way to engage a reader. The answer to the above question is a resounding >yes,= but with two caveats. (1) The only fountainhead of our national identity is rights-based liberalism, which, if not understood and accepted by most Canadians, certainly ought to be. (2) There is no thematic identity to Canadian philosophy. Philosophical writing in Canada >is inclined to take pluralism as its overriding theme.= The authors quote secondary critical papers on the major resource works about Canadian philosophy to support this contention but offer no textual exegeses of arguments that present a stronger thematic case. Thus the title of the book is not an invitation to a debate. That being said, we can turn to the heart of the five essays that make up the book B the legitimacy and significance of collective rights in a pluralist society, Canada. The authors consistently champion individual rights. Those whose identities derive from a particular culture have no special claims on others and certainly no claims on the tax dollars of individual Canadians. Only Ingrid Harris grants the indigenous communities and Quebec special consideration because of historical longevity. The authors agree that the concept of a civic philosophy B a national moral benevolence B...