Article

Leslie Armour

Published Online February 5, 2008

Last Edited December 9, 2014

Leslie Armour, philosopher (b at New Westminster, BC 6 Mar 1931). Armour, with a BA from the University of British Columbia (1952) and a PhD from the University of London (1956), taught PHILOSOPHY first in the US, then at Waterloo and at the University of Ottawa (since 1977).

Armour, Leslie

Leslie Armour, philosopher (b at New Westminster, BC 6 Mar 1931). Armour, with a BA from the University of British Columbia (1952) and a PhD from the University of London (1956), taught PHILOSOPHY first in the US, then at Waterloo and at the University of Ottawa (since 1977). Like many Canadians foremost in their fields, his work is better known abroad than at home. He is a pioneer in publishing early Canadian philosophy and has philosophical publications in metaphysics, religion, law, politics and economics.

His first 3 books, The Rational and the Real (1962), The Concept of Truth (1969) and Logic and Reality (1972), continue the idealist tradition which has influenced much of his work. The idea of Canada has sparked his lifelong, often tumultuous pursuit of just causes, stemming from his time as a student editor, newspaper journalist and contributor to Canadian and British news services. Much of his work (eg, The Idea of Canada and the Crisis of Community (1981) and "The Metaphysics of Community") reflects Canada's unique political and philosophical federalism and expresses his sincere commitment to Canada. Armour's recent work includes publications on Spinoza and Hegel, Being and Idea (1992), and on Pascal,Infini - Rien (1993). A prolific writer, he has over 20 book chapters and 60 journal articles. He is also a frequent speaker at conferences on economics, religious studies and French and German philosophy, and he has published articles in all of the above areas. Armour truly represents the eclecticism of Canadian culture.