Govier, Trudy 1944-

views updated

GOVIER, Trudy 1944-

PERSONAL: Born August 3, 1944, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; daughter of George and Doris (Kemp) Govier; married Anton Colijn, 1974; children: Caroline, Peter, Douglas. Ethnicity: "Mix of English, Irish, Huguenot, and Pennsylvania Dutch." Education: University of Alberta, B.A., 1965; University of Waterloo, Ph.D., 1971. Politics: "Humanitarian." Religion: "Agnostic." Hobbies and other interests: Swimming, singing, cycling, piano.

ADDRESSES: Home and offıce—3207 Canmore Rd. NW, Calgary, Alberta T2M 4J8, Canada. Agent—c/o Author Mail, McGill-Queen's University Press, 3430 McTavish St., Montreal, Quebec H3A 1X9, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer and philosopher. Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, former professor of philosophy. Member of Project Ploughshares Calgary and Calgary Festival Chorus.

MEMBER: Canadian Philosophical Association, Association for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking, Concerned Philosophers for Peace.

AWARDS, HONORS: Research grants, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 1983-85 and 1989-94.

WRITINGS:

A Practical Study of Argument, Wadsworth Publishing (Belmont, CA), 1985.

Problems in Argument Analysis and Evaluation, Walter De Gruyter (Hawthorne, NY), 1987.

(Editor) Selected Issues in Logic and Communication, Wadsworth Publishing (Belmont, CA), 1988.

God, the Devil, and the Perfect Pizza: Ten Philosophical Questions, Broadview Press (Peterborough, Ontario, Canada), 1989.

Social Trust and Human Communities, McGill-Queen's University Press (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 1997.

Dilemmas of Trust, McGill-Queen's University Press (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 1998.

Socrates' Children, Broadview Press (Peterborough, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

The Philosophy of Argument, Vale Press (Newport News, VA), 1999.

Forgiveness and Revenge, Routledge (New York, NY), 2002.

A Delicate Balance: What Philosophy Can Tell Us about Terrorism, Westview Press (Boulder, CO), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including Hypatia.

SIDELIGHTS: Trudy Govier is the author of several philosophical studies. Her most successful book, A Practical Study of Argument, has been read by audiences in many countries and has been reissued several times since its 1985 publication.

Among Govier's other publications is the edited work, Selected Issues in Logic and Communication. The book contains sixteen essays on subjects ranging from misapprehension of political commentary to critical discrimination in the age of media saturation. Dianne Romain, writing in Canadian Philosophical Reviews, affirmed that the "collection's strength lies in the high quality and diversity of the essays." She added that the volume's essays "offer a host of ways to critique mass media and other communication and provide good reading for an upper division critical thinking or communications studies course."

Govier followed Selected Issues in Logic and Communication with God, the Devil, and the Perfect Pizza: Ten Philosophical Questions, which is structured as a series of philosophical debates and brief fictional accounts. Among the issues addressed in this volume are electronic consciousness, the nature of numbers, conscience, the irrational aspects of rationality, and even likely survival strategies in contemporary times. Alan R. Drengson wrote in Canadian Philosophical Reviews that Govier "manages to catch authentically the way in which philosophical problems can arise for us in the normal course of life." He commented, "Her book has the virtue of helping us to recover part of this larger, richer context, and for that reason alone it serves a valuable end." Drengson concluded his review by noting that Govier's book is "a pleasure to read" and declaring that he was "impressed by Govier's ability to weave the major issues . . . into coherent dialogues and stories."

In Forgiveness and Revenge, Govier examines whether violent revenge is ever morally justified and if there are acts of either a personal or a political nature that cannot be forgiven. Mary Sigler wrote in a review for Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online that Govier "rejects what she takes to be the conventional view that some moral wrongs are so egregious that their perpetrators are absolutely unforgivable. According to Govier, there are no 'moral monsters:' 'It is both dangerous and unethical to write off a human individual or group as permanently and incorrigibly evil.'" Sigler said that "apart from her strong conclusion that no one is, in principle, unforgivable, the most distinctive aspect of Govier's work is the application of forgiveness to the political domain."

Govier draws on the writings of philosophers to respond to the aftermath of the terrorism of September 11, 2001, in A Delicate Balance: What Philosophy Can Tell Us about Terrorism. She calls up the views on courage of Plato and Aristotle and Kant's on revenge, as well as observations on justice by twentieth-century philosopher John Rawls. A Quill & Quire reviewer wrote that the volume "examines terrorism, particularly terrorism against the United States, in a subdued, philosophical voice. That voice, so calm, so calculating, is one of the most refreshing aspects of this short work, contrasting so sharply with the heated rhetoric since the events of September 11."

Govier once told CA: "Though I remain interested in argument and critical thinking, my main concern over the past several years has been with topics in social philosophy. I spent a number of years studying issues of trust and distrust. I'm now fascinated with issues of reconciliation, especially with the attitudes of revenge and forgiveness which are so important to them. I enjoy thinking about how ethical issues affect politics."

More recently Govier commented: "I write in order to develop, clarify, and communicate my ideas about a variety of philosophical topics. My work falls into two broadly defined areas: those of argumentative logic and social philosophy. I was greatly inspired by the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation and thrilled that Archbishop Desmond Tutu generously wrote endorsements for two of my books, Forgiveness and Revenge and A Delicate Balance: What Philosophy Can Tell Us about Terrorism."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Argumentation and Advocacy, winter, 1994, pp. 182-184.

Canadian Philosophical Reviews, December, 1989, Dianne Romain, review of Selected Issues in Logic and Communication, pp. 480-483; July, 1990, Alan R. Drengson, review of God, the Devil, and the Perfect Pizza: Ten Philosophical Questions, pp. 268-270.

Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review, April, 1991, pp. 640-645; spring, 2001, Barbara Houston, review of Dilemmas of Trust, p. 380; winter, 2003, Genevieve Choquette, review of The Philosophy of Argument, pp. 191-193.

International Philosophical Quarterly, June, 2003, Margaret Urban Walker, review of Forgiveness and Revenge, pp. 252-254.

Journalism Quarterly, winter, 1988, p. 1042.

Quill & Quire, February, 1990, p. 25; August, 2002.