Dan Goldstick

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Dan Goldstick
File:Palestinian Rally - 2007-06 - 01.jpg
Born
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolMarxist philosophy, pre-Kantian rationalism
Main interests
Marxism, ethics, epistemology, metaphysics
Notable ideas
A priori probabilities, universal impermanence thesis, Goldstickian principle of simplicity

Daniel "Danny" Goldstick is a Canadian philosopher, writer and political activist. He is currently a Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto.[1]

Academic biography

Goldstick was born in Toronto. He received his B.A. from the University of Toronto in 1962, and went on to graduate studies at Oxford University, where he received a B.Phil in 1964 and D.Phil. in 1969, although he returned to Canada in 1965; his thesis, under the supervision of Alfred Jules Ayer, attempted to refute empiricism. In 1965, he took a position as a lecturer at Carleton University, and in 1967, became an assistant professor there, but in the same year he moved back to Toronto after philosophy department members David Savan and David Gauthier persuaded the other faculty to overlook his radical politics.[2] At Toronto, Goldstick taught Marxism, synthetic apriority, and ethics. His work in philosophy centres on topics in metaphysics and epistemology. His philosophical work consists of approximately 75 papers,[2] including:

  • "Methodological Conservatism" (Am. Phil. Quart. 1971);
  • "Dialectics versus Metaphysics" (Explorations in Knowledge, 1988);
  • "Cognitive Reason" (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 1992)

He is the author of Reason, Truth, and Reality,[3] a "defense of pre-Kantian rationalism". The book asks what sort of world do we inhabit? and what moral obligations do we have? According to reviewer Peter Tramel, his effort culminates in arguments for universal impermanence, continuous deterministic causality, and utilitarianism.[4] Others claim that, "at its core, this book is addressing the Marxian concern with relating theory to practice."[5]

Activism

Goldstick came from a progressive Jewish family. His mother was a lawyer and anti-war activist and friends with politicians like J. S. Woodsworth and Tim Buck. According to Hewitt (2002), Goldstick has been the subject of illicit Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) surveillance since the age of 15.[6]

Advocacy of Atheism

Goldstick has been involved in debates across Canada on the existence of God. He has publicly debated writers such as Micheal R. Butler, attempting to refute Butler's Transcendental argument for God. Goldstick maintains that an omnipotent God must be able to accomplish anything, even if it entails a contradiction—genocide, famine, etc. On this account, the Christian God cannot be omnipotent and benevolent, for a benevolent, omnipotent God would have prevented the introduction of suffering into the world.[7] He is a faculty advisor of the U of T Secular Alliance and a founding member of the Humanist Association of Toronto [8]

Communist Party of Canada

Goldstick is a long-time member of the Central Committee [9] of the Communist Party of Canada and a former member of its Executive, working closely with Miguel Figueroa and Elizabeth Rowley. He has been a frequent candidate at the federal and provincial level for the CPC. Goldstick is the founding editor of the Communist Party's theoretical journal The Spark.[10] His recent editorials have addressed the state and nationalization, the economic crisis, and democracy.

Federal electoral record

As Slater (2005) writes,[2] Goldstick has frequently stood for office as the communist candidate in the parliamentary elections for the Rosedale district, which has approximately 100 communist voters. Although never been elected, "Red Danny" is still remembered for his sense of humor, satire and wit during public all-candidates meetings—sometimes even getting the strongest applause from audiences by the end of debates.

References

  1. ↑ Goldstick's faculty profile at Toronto Archived 2008-10-09 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Slater, John G. (2005), Minerva's aviary: philosophy at Toronto, 1843-2003, University of Toronto Press, pp. 394–395, ISBN 978-0-8020-3870-8.
  3. ↑ (University of Toronto Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8020-9594-7)
  4. ↑ Peter Tramel, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, Oct 1st 2010, http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=18508 Archived 2011-06-15 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/pir/article/view/2145/80Melanson, Glen (2010), Philosophy in Review, Daniel Goldstick, Reason Truth Reality, University of Victoria, pp. 266–268. 0
  6. ↑ Hewitt, Steve (2002), Spying 101: the RCMP's secret activities at Canadian universities, 1917–1997, University of Toronto Press, pp. 122–123, ISBN 978-0-8020-4149-4.
  7. ↑ Groarke, Louis (2001). "Reconsidering Absolute Omnipotence". The Heythrop Journal. 42: 13–25. doi:10.1111/1468-2265.00152.
  8. ↑ "Humanist Association of Toronto". Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  9. ↑ "Dawg's Blawg: Old Home Day". 27 November 2008.
  10. ↑ The Spark, Editorials http://thesparkjournal.blogspot.com/search/label/Editorials
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