After the Terror

by Ted Honderich

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."

Genres: Philosophy

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Edgar Dawn Ross "Ted" Honderich was a Canadian-born British philosopher, who was Grote Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic, University College London.

Reviews

[Daniel Barrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honderich argues that Americans, and the victims of the 2001 September 11 attacks, were guilty of causing harm to impoverished people around the world, including the communities which produced the attackers. I'm sympathetic to this claim, although I find Honderich's exposition troublesome and incomplete for several reasons:
1) Honderich doesn't believe in a moral difference between causing harm and failing to act to prevent or alleviate harm. This peculiarity of his ethical framework makes his exposition of moral responsibility less thorough and convincing than I think it could have been.
2) Honderich's expression of American culpability is primarily focused on economics, and neglects American foreign policy actions which have led to
3) Honderich doesn't explore the motivations and rhetoric of Al-Qaeda which could support his thesis. This book gives the impression that the narrative of American culpability is Honderich's own thesis, without exploring how Al-Qaeda and its sympathizers view American culpability.
4) Honderich proceeds to defend terrorism as a response to American culpability without being precise about particular forms of terrorism and the ethical issues particular to each. This imprecision renders this book capable of being used to defend a wide variety of violent actions.

The book deserves perhaps 3 stars. I'm giving Honderich a generous 4 stars because I think his thesis is important. It deserves a better book than this one.

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

Post 9-11 book