Dan Goldstick
Encyclopedia
Daniel Goldstick is a Canadian Philosopher, writer and political activist. He is currently a Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto
.
. 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.
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, including:
He is the author of Reason, Truth, and Reality, 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
. Others claim that, "at its core, this book is addressing the Marxian concern with relating theory to practice."
and Tim Buck
. According to , Goldstick has been the subject of illicit Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) surveillance since the age of 15.
As a high school student, Goldstick was a member of the National Federation of Labour Youth. He became politically involved in student movement politics at the University of Toronto while an undergraduate there in the 1950s. Later, he campaigned with a young Tariq Ali
at Oxford against the Vietnam war. Since returning to Canada he has worked on many direct action campaigns including students issues like tuition reduction and elimination; against sexism, homophobia and racism such as the Dr Chun case; international solidarity with the ANC
, Black Panthers, Angela Davis
, and FMLN; as well as electoral politics on the municipal, provincial and federal level. For many years he was involved in the University of Toronto Marxist Institute. Goldstick is currently a member of the Council of Canadians and is active in peace, anti-war, and Palestinian solidarity movements. He is a member of Not In Our Name, an anti-Zionist group. He has participated each week for over five years in a picket of Chapters Indigo bookstore on Bay Street
. He is a supporter of the Canadian Peace Alliance
recently presented on “Sovereignty and Global Peace” at the 2010 Canadian Peace Research Association.
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. He is a faculty advisor of the U of T Secular Alliance and a founding member of the Humanist Association of Toronto
for whom he has been a frequent candidate at the federal and provincial level. He is currently the founding editor of the Communist Party's theoretical journal The Spark. which is on its 21st edition. His recent editorials have addressed the state and nationalization, the economic crisis, and democracy.
district, which has approximately 100 communist voters; he has never been elected.
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
.
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 a Ph.D. in 1969, although he returned to Canada in 1965; his thesis, under the supervision of Alfred Jules Ayer, attempted to refute empiricismEmpiricism
Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence,...
. In 1965, he took a position as a lecturer at Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
, and in 1967, became an assistant professor there, but in the same year he moved back to Toronto after philosophy department members David Savan
David Savan
David Savan was an eminent semiotician and Charles Sanders Peirce scholar.He was a Professor in the University of Toronto, Philosophy Department, 1943-1981.He was the first recipient of the Thomas A. Sebeok fellowship.-Links:...
and David Gauthier
David Gauthier
David Gauthier is a Canadian-American philosopher best known for his neo-Hobbesian social contract theory of morality, as laid out in his book Morals by Agreement.-Biography:...
persuaded the other faculty to overlook his radical politics.
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, 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, 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
Impermanence
Impermanence is one of the essential doctrines or three marks of existence in Buddhism...
, continuous deterministic causality
Causality
Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....
, and utilitarianism
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...
. Others claim that, "at its core, this book is addressing the Marxian concern with relating theory to practice."
Activism
Dan Goldstick came from a progressive Jewish family. His mother was a lawyer and anti-war activist and friends with politicians like J. S. WoodsworthJ. S. Woodsworth
James Shaver Woodsworth was a pioneer in the Canadian social democratic movement. Following more than two decades ministering to the poor and the working class, J. S...
and Tim Buck
Tim Buck
Timothy "Tim" Buck was a long-time leader of the Communist Party of Canada...
. According to , Goldstick has been the subject of illicit Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
(RCMP) surveillance since the age of 15.
As a high school student, Goldstick was a member of the National Federation of Labour Youth. He became politically involved in student movement politics at the University of Toronto while an undergraduate there in the 1950s. Later, he campaigned with a young Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali , , is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator...
at Oxford against the Vietnam war. Since returning to Canada he has worked on many direct action campaigns including students issues like tuition reduction and elimination; against sexism, homophobia and racism such as the Dr Chun case; international solidarity with the ANC
ANC
ANC commonly refers to the African National Congress, a revolutionary movement which became the ruling political party in South Africa in the 1994 election.ANC may also refer to:-Organizations:...
, Black Panthers, Angela Davis
Angela Davis
Angela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Davis was most politically active during the late 1960s through the 1970s and was associated with the Communist Party USA, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party...
, and FMLN; as well as electoral politics on the municipal, provincial and federal level. For many years he was involved in the University of Toronto Marxist Institute. Goldstick is currently a member of the Council of Canadians and is active in peace, anti-war, and Palestinian solidarity movements. He is a member of Not In Our Name, an anti-Zionist group. He has participated each week for over five years in a picket of Chapters Indigo bookstore on Bay Street
Bay Street
Bay Street, originally known as Bear Street, is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s...
. He is a supporter of the Canadian Peace Alliance
Canadian Peace Alliance
The Canadian Peace Alliance / L'Alliance canadienne pour la paix is a Canadian umbrella peace organization claiming more than 140 member groups...
recently presented on “Sovereignty and Global Peace” at the 2010 Canadian Peace Research Association.
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'sTranscendentalTranscendence (religion)
In religion transcendence refers to the aspect of God's nature which is wholly independent of the physical universe. This is contrasted with immanence where God is fully present in the physical world and thus accessible to creatures in various ways...
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. He is a faculty advisor of the U of T Secular Alliance and a founding member of the Humanist Association of Toronto
Communist Party of Canada
Goldstick is a long-time member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of CanadaCommunist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
for whom he has been a frequent candidate at the federal and provincial level. He is currently the founding editor of the Communist Party's theoretical journal The Spark. which is on its 21st edition. His recent editorials have addressed the state and nationalization, the economic crisis, and democracy.
Federal electoral record
As writes, Goldstick has frequently stood for office as the communist candidate in the parliamentary elections for the RosedaleToronto Centre
Toronto Centre is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1872 to 1925, and since 1935, under the names Centre Toronto , Toronto Centre , Rosedale and Toronto Centre—Rosedale .Toronto Centre covers the heart of...
district, which has approximately 100 communist voters; he has never been elected.
- Canadian federal election, 1974Canadian federal election, 1974The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party won its first majority government since 1968, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term...
, Rosedale, 136 votes (winner: Donald Stovel MacdonaldDonald Stovel MacdonaldDonald Stovel Macdonald, PC, CC is a former Canadian Liberal politician and Cabinet minister.Macdonald graduated from the University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto in 1952. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1962 election as the Liberal Member of...
, LiberalLiberal Party of CanadaThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
) - by-electionBy-electionA by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
1978, Rosedale, 120 votes (winner: David Crombie, Progressive ConservativeProgressive Conservative Party of CanadaThe Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
) - Canadian federal election, 1979Canadian federal election, 1979The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
, Rosedale, 80 votes (winner: David Crombie, Progressive ConservativeProgressive Conservative Party of CanadaThe Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
) - Canadian federal election, 1980Canadian federal election, 1980The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
, Rosedale, 85 votes (winner: David Crombie, Progressive ConservativeProgressive Conservative Party of CanadaThe Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
) - Canadian federal election, 1988Canadian federal election, 1988The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
, Etobicoke Centre, 81 votes (winner: Michael Wilson, Progressive ConservativeProgressive Conservative Party of CanadaThe Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
) - Canadian federal election, 1993Canadian federal election, 1993The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
, York South—WestonYork South—WestonYork South—Weston is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979.-Electoral district:It is in the west-end of Toronto. The riding has a largely working class and immigrant population...
, 119 votes (winner: John NunziataJohn NunziataJohn Nunziata is a Canadian politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 2000, initially as a Liberal and later as an independent member.-Background:...
, LiberalLiberal Party of CanadaThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
) (note: Goldstick ran as an independent in this election, as the Communist Party of Canada was not recognized as an official party. He was listed on the ballot as "Danny Red Goldstick") - Canadian federal election, 2000Canadian federal election, 2000The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
, Toronto Centre—RosedaleToronto CentreToronto Centre is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1872 to 1925, and since 1935, under the names Centre Toronto , Toronto Centre , Rosedale and Toronto Centre—Rosedale .Toronto Centre covers the heart of...
, 121 votes (winner: Bill GrahamBill GrahamWilliam Carvel "Bill" Graham, PC QC is a former Canadian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence, and Leader of the Opposition and interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.-Personal life:...
, LiberalLiberal Party of CanadaThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
) - Canadian federal election, 2004Canadian federal election, 2004The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
, Toronto CentreToronto CentreToronto Centre is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1872 to 1925, and since 1935, under the names Centre Toronto , Toronto Centre , Rosedale and Toronto Centre—Rosedale .Toronto Centre covers the heart of...
, 106 votes (winner: Bill GrahamBill GrahamWilliam Carvel "Bill" Graham, PC QC is a former Canadian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence, and Leader of the Opposition and interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.-Personal life:...
, LiberalLiberal Party of CanadaThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
)