After the Terror

Ted Honderich is Grote Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University College London and Visiting Professor at the University of Bath.

In these bad times, when many intellectuals have become the spear-carriers of the new order, reading the words of Ted Honderich is a rare delight. This uncompromising and courageous philosopher continues the dissenting tradition of Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre, more needed now than ever before. -- Tariq Ali Everyone who was appalled by the events of September llth 2001 must read this book. You are addressed personally, in urgent, passionate talk. Not everyone will like his conclusions, yet even those who are prepared to take no responsibility for the Terror are bound to reflect on the historical causes of these and other attacks. The book contains, as well as some brisk moral and original philosophy, some important insights into the centrality of the Israel/Palestine conflict to any future freedom from terrorism. -- Baroness Warnock In the flood of literature on terrorism, this essay stands out as unusual, and unusually enlightening and provocative. It guides the reader, lucidly and forcefully, from basic ideas about a good and decent life to contemplation of concrete and immediate issues that are or should be at the center of attention. It is a compelling and impressive contribution to thinking about problems that are complex, painful, and urgent. -- Noam Chomsky Honderich's brilliant After the Terror attempts to provide the conceptual and moral tools for self-perception and resolution to change, to make moral contemplation a matter of the living present and the future. The whole book is a marvellous example of what good philosophy can do to puncture the complacency of received moral and political ideas. -- Professor Richard Norman, University of Kent In these bad times, when many intellectuals have become the spear-carriers of the new order, reading the words of Ted Honderich is a rare delight. This uncompromising and courageous philosopher continues the dissenting tradition of Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre, more needed now than ever before. Everyone who was appalled by the events of September llth 2001 must read this book. You are addressed personally, in urgent, passionate talk. Not everyone will like his conclusions, yet even those who are prepared to take no responsibility for the Terror are bound to reflect on the historical causes of these and other attacks. The book contains, as well as some brisk moral and original philosophy, some important insights into the centrality of the Israel/Palestine conflict to any future freedom from terrorism. In the flood of literature on terrorism, this essay stands out as unusual, and unusually enlightening and provocative. It guides the reader, lucidly and forcefully, from basic ideas about a good and decent life to contemplation of concrete and immediate issues that are or should be at the center of attention. It is a compelling and impressive contribution to thinking about problems that are complex, painful, and urgent. Honderich's brilliant After the Terror attempts to provide the conceptual and moral tools for self-perception and resolution to change, to make moral contemplation a matter of the living present and the future. The whole book is a marvellous example of what good philosophy can do to puncture the complacency of received moral and political ideas.

• After The Terror; Ted Honderich; CHAPTER ONE: GOOD LIVES, BAD LIVES; Living Longer; Other Great Goods; Half-Lives and Under-Fives; Necessary Inquiry; Less than Half-Lives, and a Reason; Reassuring Ourselves; Quarter-Lives; Larger Numbers; Great Goods Again?; More Reassurance?; Not an Omission; CHAPTER TWO: NATURAL AND OTHER MORALITY; Natural Morality; More to Natural Morality, and Its Inescapability; Worked-Out Moralities; Libertarianism; Liberalism; The Principle of Humanity; CHAPTER THREE: DID WE WRONG THEM? DO WE WRONG THEM?; Political Realism; A Morality of Relationship; A General Distinction, and a Mystery [change title on chapter itself]; Libertarianism, Liberalism, Humanity Again; Acts and Omissions; Causes and Conditions; Good Intentions; Another Hope, and a Conclusion or Two; CHAPTER FOUR: THE TWIN TOWERS, AND DEMOCRACY; Oneness in Extremity; Definitions of Violence; Terrorism Defined; Why Some Say It Was Wrong; Democracy; Hierarchic Democracy; Why September 11 Was Wrong; CHAPTER FIVE: OUR RESPONSIBILITY, AND WHAT TO DO; Moral Confidence; Our Share in September 11; Capitalism; Our Counter-Attack; What Is To Be Done.