23.4.09

Andrew Potter on Ralston Saul

Andrew Potter's review of John Ralston Saul's thinking on Canadian identity contained this excellent passage;

"The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein liked to say that the trick to philosophy was knowing when to stop asking the questions that lead you astray. Similarly, the trick to being a Canadian is knowing when to stop obsessing over the question of our national identity. By reimagining Canada as a Métis country, John Ralston Saul has almost certainly brought English Canada’s ongoing search for an identity to an end. He has also, inadvertently, revealed how inherently futile the whole exercise has been."

2 comments:

Jefe said...

The trick to conceptualizing anything is to stop adding to your mind-map before it becomes a bloated mass of overlapping fuzzy concepts and/or unwelcome dogma.

- me.

Moriarty said...

Mr Saul's new book certainly provides a new and arguably necessary spin on Canada Identity, but watching speak on I would argue his thesis was superficial and off-putting as he played to First Nation and Metis crowd here during a book launch in Thunder Bay. High rhetoric, low substance...