After the Terror [Hardcover]

Ted Honderich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2002

Ted Honderich investigates the morality of the September 11th attacks and what terrorism tells us about ourselves and our obligations. Did we have a responsibility for what took place? Did we respond to it as we should have? What are we to do now? After the Terror inquires into the "natural fact" of morality and the worked-out moralities of philosophers. It reaches to the moral core of our lives.

Honderich writes, "We can be held partly responsible for the 3,000 deaths at the twin towers and at the Pentagon. We are rightly to be held responsible along with the killers. We share the guilt. Those who condemn us have a reason to do so. Did we bring the killing at the twin towers on ourselves? Did we have it coming? Those offensive questions, and their offensive, but affirmative answer, do contain a truth."

Editorial Reviews

Review

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 )

About the Author

Ted Honderich has been the Grote Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University College London, and visiting professor at Yale University, the Graduate Center at CUNY, and Brooklyn College. His books include Philosopher: A Kind of Life; The Oxford Companion to Philosophy; and The Supposed Justifications.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press; First Edition edition (September 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0748616675
• ISBN-13: 978-0748616671
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,045,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 100 watt bulb in a 20 watt culture February 2, 2003

By Douglas Doepke

Format:Hardcover

Few academic philosophers have the guts or the sensitivity of Ted Honderich. For a profession whose Anglo-American branch proudly removed itself from mundane affairs like international politics and the fate of peoples, this little work stands in stark exception. No publication I know captures the background sense of moral reasoning shared by today's international progressive movement better than this one. Nor are the subtle but deadly shades of culpability among dominant western societies more searchingly revealed. Sure, there is material to gainsay, although the tone is often more probing than assertorial. His thrust, however, is dead-on and should help rouse an irrelevant profession from its long ideological slumber. For those willing to confront the agonizing realities of our age at eye-level, including terrorism, Honderich's remains an indispensible and provocative tool.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars For anyone struggling to make sense of September 11th June 8, 2004

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Paperback

Now in a newly expanded and revised edition, After The Terror questions what terrorism tells us about our moral obligations. Postulating that the harsh realities of terrorism pit a "morality of humanity" that emphasizes sympathy and generosity against conventional, unreflective morality, After The Terror explores the philosophical side of what to do, and revises philosophical principles to better explain human actions that are ruthless to the point of inexplicable. More a call for a discussion of ideas and foundations than a direct exhortation for political action, After The Terror is nevertheless a "must-read" for anyone struggling to make sense of the September 11th attacks or like occurences of terrorism.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If CNN does not limit your mind. October 27, 2002

By George

Format:Hardcover

After Sep 11 everyone stopped asking why this happened to us, and started concentrating on the revenge war. This book shades a light on a reality that the US Media/Government tries hard to hide.