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Nothing for Granted: Selected Writings, 2000-2003
An eloquent look at the first few years of the twenty-first century from acute social critic Mark Kingwell In this collection of his columns published in the National Post from 2000 to 2003, philosopher and critic Mark Kingwell turns his attention to world issues from September 11 to soccer violence, from God to the Gulf War, and from private space to public protest. He also looks at the small, the quirky, and the Canadian in columns such as “Canucks-the gays of North America,” “Cricket-a pursuit unruled by money,” and “The cart one golfer gets a free ride.” He pre-empts Lynn Truss's global bestseller, Eats Shoots & Leaves , with his 2000 rant “Bad grammar drives me to drink” and laments the demise of civility in “On being it's not enough to say you are.”
- GenresNonfiction
275 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Mark Kingwell
62 books57 followersMark Gerald Kingwell B.A, M.Litt, M.Phil, PhD, D.F.A. (born March 1, 1963) is a Canadian philosopher who is currently professor of philosophy and associate chair at the University of Toronto's Department of Philosophy. Kingwell is a fellow of Trinity College and a Senior Fellow of Massey College. He specialises in theories of politics and culture.
Kingwell has published twelve different books, most notably, A Civil Tongue: Justice, Dialogue, and the Politics of Pluralism, which was awarded the Spitz Prize for political theory in 1997. In 2000 Kingwell received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, for contributions to theory and criticism. He has held visiting posts at various institutions including: Cambridge University, University of California at Berkeley, and City University of New York where he held the title of Weissman Distinguished Professor of Humanities.
He studied at the University of Toronto, editing The Varsity through 1983 to 1984 and the University of Toronto Review from 84-85. He received his BA degree from the University of St. Michael's College with High Distinction in 1985, his MLitt degree from Edinburgh University in 1987, and both his M.Phil and PhD degrees from Yale University in 1989 and 1991 respectively. He was married to Gail Donaldson in 1988. The marriage ended in divorce in 2004.
Kingwell is a contributing editor to Harper's Magazine, the literary quarterly Descant, the political monthly This Magazine and the Globe and Mail books section. He was also a drinks columnist for the men's magazine Toro. He was formerly a columnist for the National Post, and a contributing editor of Saturday Night. He frequently appears on television and radio, often on the CBC, and is well known for his appearance in the documentary film The Corporation. He has delivered, among others, the George Grant, Harold Innis, Marx Wartofsky and Larkin-Stuart memorial lectures.
Kingwell’s work has been translated into ten languages, and he lectures to academic and popular audiences around the world. From 2001 to 2004, he was chair of the Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum. His work on philosophy, art, and architecture has appeared in many leading academic journals and magazines, including The Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Forum, Ethics, Political Theory, and the Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities, the New York Times and The New York Times Magazine, Utne Reader, Adbusters, the Walrus, Harvard Design Magazine,Canadian Art, Azure, Toronto Life, the Globe and Mail, and the National Post.
Kingwell is one of two University of Toronto professors teaching a first year philosophy course entitled Introduction to Philosophy. Kingwell teaches his class in Victoria College's Isabel Bader Theatre, with a class size of around 700 students. He has also been part of the University of Trinity College's TrinityOne program, for which he taught a seminar class entitled Ethics and the Creative Imagination.
He describes himself as a social democrat and a "recovering Catholic". According to the Canadian Who's Who 2006, he also enjoys running, baseball, basketball, jazz, films and pop music. He has two brothers: a younger brother named Sean Kingwell and an older brother named Steven Kingwell.
Kingwell has published twelve different books, most notably, A Civil Tongue: Justice, Dialogue, and the Politics of Pluralism, which was awarded the Spitz Prize for political theory in 1997. In 2000 Kingwell received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, for contributions to theory and criticism. He has held visiting posts at various institutions including: Cambridge University, University of California at Berkeley, and City University of New York where he held the title of Weissman Distinguished Professor of Humanities.
He studied at the University of Toronto, editing The Varsity through 1983 to 1984 and the University of Toronto Review from 84-85. He received his BA degree from the University of St. Michael's College with High Distinction in 1985, his MLitt degree from Edinburgh University in 1987, and both his M.Phil and PhD degrees from Yale University in 1989 and 1991 respectively. He was married to Gail Donaldson in 1988. The marriage ended in divorce in 2004.
Kingwell is a contributing editor to Harper's Magazine, the literary quarterly Descant, the political monthly This Magazine and the Globe and Mail books section. He was also a drinks columnist for the men's magazine Toro. He was formerly a columnist for the National Post, and a contributing editor of Saturday Night. He frequently appears on television and radio, often on the CBC, and is well known for his appearance in the documentary film The Corporation. He has delivered, among others, the George Grant, Harold Innis, Marx Wartofsky and Larkin-Stuart memorial lectures.
Kingwell’s work has been translated into ten languages, and he lectures to academic and popular audiences around the world. From 2001 to 2004, he was chair of the Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum. His work on philosophy, art, and architecture has appeared in many leading academic journals and magazines, including The Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Forum, Ethics, Political Theory, and the Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities, the New York Times and The New York Times Magazine, Utne Reader, Adbusters, the Walrus, Harvard Design Magazine,Canadian Art, Azure, Toronto Life, the Globe and Mail, and the National Post.
Kingwell is one of two University of Toronto professors teaching a first year philosophy course entitled Introduction to Philosophy. Kingwell teaches his class in Victoria College's Isabel Bader Theatre, with a class size of around 700 students. He has also been part of the University of Trinity College's TrinityOne program, for which he taught a seminar class entitled Ethics and the Creative Imagination.
He describes himself as a social democrat and a "recovering Catholic". According to the Canadian Who's Who 2006, he also enjoys running, baseball, basketball, jazz, films and pop music. He has two brothers: a younger brother named Sean Kingwell and an older brother named Steven Kingwell.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 26, 2011
This book is a collection of op-ed columns the author wrote for the National Post op-ed page from May 2000 to October 2003.
Before even opening the book it is obvious that Kingwell is biased; the title blatantly rebukes the right. Throughout the book his opinions are very left-wing. Since this is a collection of opinion pieces, writing an unbiased book was clearly not Kingwell’s goal. However, the author does mention that he refrained from editing some of his work. He kept it in its original state. There were pieces he found too grating, and some he realized afterward were inaccurate. To keep the integrity of the book intact, he left them as is.
Even though the book was published 6 years ago it is already out of date. Some issues aren’t current but the message in the piece may still be relevant. Other issues aren’t explained in detail, so if you are not familiar with the context the message may be lost.
Nevertheless, there are some over-arching themes that can be gleaned from the book. Mark Kingwell talks a lot about thinking critically and forming individual opinions. At one point Kingwell says, “We have to think for ourselves; pause and reflect on our duties and desires before we rush off and barge into yet another thoughtless policy initiative or glib suggestion”.
This makes the tone of the book quite negative and often pessimistic. Even so, I like his critical tone. I think people are far too quick these days to accept the status quo without dissecting it, and what it really means. They take things, information especially, at face value.
Kingwell also talks about how many people have become less involved in the way our world is run. We have transformed from citizens into consumers. We no longer care about issues, nor do we care to take the time to inform ourselves. Kingwell attributes our apathy to overstimulation. He claims that many feel that if they cannot do everything, they will do nothing instead.
I think it is also necessary to be critical of Kingwell’s writing. While talking about being critical of Al Gore he says: “Al Gore once claimed he invented the internet”. I know these are opinion pieces and not research papers; still this is a pretty big claim. For information like this it would be nice to know a source, and maybe some context.
Before even opening the book it is obvious that Kingwell is biased; the title blatantly rebukes the right. Throughout the book his opinions are very left-wing. Since this is a collection of opinion pieces, writing an unbiased book was clearly not Kingwell’s goal. However, the author does mention that he refrained from editing some of his work. He kept it in its original state. There were pieces he found too grating, and some he realized afterward were inaccurate. To keep the integrity of the book intact, he left them as is.
Even though the book was published 6 years ago it is already out of date. Some issues aren’t current but the message in the piece may still be relevant. Other issues aren’t explained in detail, so if you are not familiar with the context the message may be lost.
Nevertheless, there are some over-arching themes that can be gleaned from the book. Mark Kingwell talks a lot about thinking critically and forming individual opinions. At one point Kingwell says, “We have to think for ourselves; pause and reflect on our duties and desires before we rush off and barge into yet another thoughtless policy initiative or glib suggestion”.
This makes the tone of the book quite negative and often pessimistic. Even so, I like his critical tone. I think people are far too quick these days to accept the status quo without dissecting it, and what it really means. They take things, information especially, at face value.
Kingwell also talks about how many people have become less involved in the way our world is run. We have transformed from citizens into consumers. We no longer care about issues, nor do we care to take the time to inform ourselves. Kingwell attributes our apathy to overstimulation. He claims that many feel that if they cannot do everything, they will do nothing instead.
I think it is also necessary to be critical of Kingwell’s writing. While talking about being critical of Al Gore he says: “Al Gore once claimed he invented the internet”. I know these are opinion pieces and not research papers; still this is a pretty big claim. For information like this it would be nice to know a source, and maybe some context.
Displaying 1 of 1 review