Ethics of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism (Philosophical Research) - Hardcover

Presently, we are engaged in a war against terrorismbut there is little consensus about what we are fighting against in this war. Much worse, hardly anyone is concerned about this conceptual disaster. The main issue is whether or not one is taking sides with the "good guys." The war against terrorism raises several questions, among them: What is terrorism? Are terrorist acts to be defined exclusively on the basis of the characteristics of the respective actions? Should these actions be restricted to acts performed by non-state organizations? And, most important, is terrorism, by its very nature, to be morally condemned? A clear idea of what terrorism is would be only the beginning. Rational moral assessment still needs two further components: the relevant facts, and the relevant values and norms. Because systematic disinformation has been proclaimed as the official policy, it is obviously very difficult to collect facts. This volume is an analytical attempt to end this stalemate. Its main focus is ethics: What is wrong with terrorism? What is morally right or morally wrong, respectively, with all the different means of counter-terrorism? What are the moral boundaries for waging war against terrorism? What are the right ways of dealing with terrorists? What about the alleged anti-terrorism wars on Afghanistan and Iraq?

Georg Meggle is professor of philosophy at the University of Leipzig, Germany and one of the most famous German philosophers. He is founder of the German Society for Analytic Philosophy and has published many books and innumerable articles.