Synopses & Reviews
Genocide is evil or nothing could be. It raises a host of questions about humanity, rights, justice, and reality, which are key areas of concern for philosophy. Strangely, however, philosophers have tended to ignore genocide. Even more problematic, philosophy and philosophers bear more responsibility for genocide than they have usually admitted. In Genocide and Human Rights: A Philosophical Guide, an international group of twenty-five contemporary philosophers work to correct those deficiencies by showing how philosophy can and should repsond to genocide, particularly in ways that defend human rights.
Synopsis
A collection of essays by leading contemporary philosophers on the complex issue of philosophy and genocide
About the Author
John Roth is Edward J. Sexton Professor of Philosophy and the Director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights at Claremont McKenna College, and the author of Holocaust Politics: Will Genocide Ever End? and Approaches to Auschwitz: The Holocaust and its Legacy.
Table of Contents
Prologue and Acknowledgments: Philosophy and Genocide; J.K.Roth * Notes on Contributors * PART I: THE PROBLEM OF EVIL: HOW DOES GENOCIDE AFFECT PHILOSOPHY? * The Evil in Genocide; B.Lang * Rights, Morality, and Faith in the Light of the Holocaust; S.Lee * How Should Genocide Affect Philosophy?; F.Sontag * Genocide, Despair, and Religious Hope: An Essay on Human Nature; S.T.Davis * The Holocaust and Language; D.Z.Phillips * Genocide, Evil, and Injustice: Competing Hells; T.W.Simon * PART II: INNOCENT OR GUILTY? PHILOSOPHY'S INVOLVEMENT IN GENOCIDE * The Doctorhood of Genocide; C.Tatz * The Philosophical Warrant for Genocide; D.Patterson * The Rational Constitution of Evil: Reflections on Franz Baermann Steiner's Critique of Philosophy; M.Mack * Epistemic Conditions for Genocide; E.C.Eze * Genocide and the Totalizing Philosopher; L.Grob * Why Do the Happy Inhabitants of Tahiti Bother to Exist at All?; R.Bernasconi * PART III: WILL GENOCIDE EVER END? GENOCIDE'S CHALLENGE TO PHILOSOPHY * Refocusing Genocide: A Philosophical Responsibility; R.Gaita * Genocide and Crimes against Humanity; N.Geras * Innocence, Genocide, and Suicide Bombings; L.M.Thomas * Beyond the Affectations of Philosophy; J.R.Watson * The Warring Logics of Genocide; E.Wyschogrod * Philosophy's Obligation to the Human Being in the Aftermath of Genocide; P.C.Santilli * PART IV: RESISTANCE, RESPONSIBILITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS: PHILOSOPHY'S RESPONSE TO GENOCIDE * Genocide and Social Death; C.Card * Genocide and the 'Logic' of Racism; J.K.Roth * The Right to Life, Genocide, and the Problem of Bystander States; D.H.Jones * Repudiating Inhumanity: Cosmopolitan Justice and the Obligation to Prosecute Human Rights Atrocities; P.Hayden * 'The Human Material Is Too Weak'; R.S.Gottlieb * Virtue Ethics, Mass Killing, and Hatred; P.Woodruff * Shame, the Holocaust, and Dark Times; M.L.Morgan * Epilogue: 'After? . . . Meaning what?'; J.K.Roth * Select Bibliography * About the Editor and Contributors * Index