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A Delicate Balance: What Philosophy Can Teach Us About Terrorism

by Trudy Govier

Trudy Govier’s A Delicate Balance examines terrorism, particularly terrorism against the United States, in a subdued philosophical voice. That voice, so calm, so calculating, is one of the most refreshing aspects of this short work, contrasting so sharply with the heated rhetoric since the events of Sept. 11.

Govier, a Calgary-based philosopher, contemplates several abstract and terribly important concepts that are so often employed in reference to terrorism but never properly qualified: concepts like evil, hate, freedom, and responsibility. Organizing each chapter around a single concept, the book is more a series of short essays than a unified theory of the causes of or solutions to terrorism.

Govier avoids excessive philosophical jargon, even when summarizing theories by Kant or Hume or Wittgenstein, and contextualizes her arguments with references, still surprisingly fresh, to specific world events. While some arguments in A Delicate Balance are not particularly critical of the status quo (such as Govier’s thoughts on the Canadian response to United States foreign policy), most are carefully constructed, critical, and tremendously interesting.

In the “Responsibility” chapter, Govier deftly proposes a method of criticizing the root causes of anti-Western terrorism – such as United States foreign policy and Israeli militarism – without placing undue blame on the victims of terrorist acts. In another chapter her argument that revenge, no matter how well justified, is ultimately devoid of satisfaction is utterly convincing.

The essays combine to expose the assumptions and the simplistic rhetoric that often surround emotional issues like terrorism, giving the reader a fuller understanding of some difficult philosophical concepts and providing an interesting read in the process.

 

Reviewer: Andrew Kett

Publisher: Westview/HarperCollins Canada

DETAILS

Price: $30.95

Page Count: 192 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 0-8133-6585-6

Released: Sept.

Issue Date: 2002-8

Categories: Reference