Description
'With large questions of right and wrong, there is a division of labour. So, with the attack on three subway trains and a bus in London on July 7, 2005.
'Of what moral relevance, if any, was the fact that the British army had been engaged in the killing of greatly more of a people with whom the terrorists identified?
'Of what relevance, as a newspaper article asked a week later, was the fact that the British prime minister put his own people at risk in the service of a foreign power?'
So begins Ted Honderich's intelligent and thoughtful analysis in Terrorism and Humanity. What Honderich says will doubtless cause a great deal of controversy too (his last book on this subject was initially banned in Germany on the grounds it was anti-Semitic, only to be re-published by a Jewish press). However, his views will also be acceptable to a great many Jews (he puts forward arguments to justify the founding of Israel and its secure perpetual existence).
Looking in detail at the situation in Palestine, 9/11, the war in Iraq and the events of 7/7, Ted Honderich offers neither a sensationalist rant nor an academic treatise. Instead Terrorism and Humanity provides a thoughtful and perceptive exploration of the biggest issue facing the western world today.
Table of Contents
(NB - this is a very rough. Apparently Ted finds it impossible to map out a contents list with any degree of certainty until he has pretty much completed a manuscript.)
Division of Labour, Philosophy
Negotiation, International Law
U.N. Resolutions
Human Rights
Just War Theory
The Politics of Reality
Conservatism and Liberalism
Democracy's Equality
Democracy's Freedom
Democracy's Help
The Principle of Humanity
The Character of the Principle
The Strength of the Principle
The Ends and the Means Justify the Means
Defining Terrorism
Palestine
Conclusions about Palestine
Terrible and Horrible Conclusion
9-11
Iraq
7-7
Anti-Semitism Postscript
Author(s)
Ted Honderich,
Ted Honderich is Grote Professor Emeritus of Mind and Logic at University College London. His many publications include How Free are You? Philosopher: A Kind of Life, The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Conservatism: Burke, Nozick, Bush, Blair, Terrorism for Humanity and After the Terror.
Reviews
Book mention in article on psychology and terroism in Asian Age,
'To prod the reader into thinking through ...arguments properly is the aim of philosopher Ted Honderich's deeply provocative and forceful new book...readers who enjoy being goaded into thinking for themselves will enjoy a better than half-decent discussion with it.'
The Guardian, Steven Poole, 26/08/2006
Steven Poole,
Title mention in interview with Ted Honderich
Nick Jackson,
Article debating Ted Honderich's television programme,
'[I]mportant reading for those who consider our current perilous state in depth. Furthermore this is...a valuable quarry for historians in the future....I strongly commend Honderich's thought-provoking, beautifully written, elegantly expressed volume.' ~ Tam Dalyell, Camden New Journal, June 2006
Tam Dalyell,