Genocide and Human Rights: A Philosophical Guide

by J. Roth

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403935472
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	07/27/2005
Edition description:	2005
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.04(d)

About the Author

ROBERT BERNASCONI Moss Professor of Philosophy, University of Memphis, USA
CLAUDIA CARD Emma Goldman Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, USA
STEPHEN T. DAVIS Russell K. Pitzer Professor of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College, USA
EMMANUEL C. EZE Associate Professor of Philosophy, DePaul University, USA
RAIMOND GAITA Professor of Moral Philosophy, King's College University of London and Professor of Philosophy, Australian Catholic University, AUSTRALIA
NORMAN GERAS Professor Emeritus, Department of Government, University of Manchester, UK
ROGER S. GOTTLIEB Professor of Philosophy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, UK
LEONARD GROB Co-founder of the biennial Pastora Goldner Holocaust Symposium, Professor of Philosophy, Fairleigh Dickinson University, USA
PATRICK HAYDEN Lecturer in Political Theory, Victoria University of Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
DAVID H. JONES Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, College of William and Mary, USA
BEREL LANG Professor of Humanities, Trinity College, Connecticut, USA
SANDER H. LEE Professor of Philosophy, Keene State College, USA
MICHAEL MACK Sesqui Fellow, 2004-07, University of Sydney, AUSTRALIA
MICHAEL L. MORGAN Chancellor's Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
DAVID PATTERSON Bornblum Chair of Excellence in Judaic Studies, University of Memphis, USA
D. Z. PHILLIPS Danforth Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Claremont Graduate University and Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and Rush Rhees Professor Emeritus, University of Wales, Swansea, UK
PAUL SANTILLI Professor of Philosophy, Siena College, USA
THOMAS W. SIMON Professor of Philosophy, Illinois State University, USA
FREDERICK E. SONTAG Robert C. Denison Professor of Philosophy, Pomona College, USA
COLIN TATZ Founder and Director, Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, University of New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
LAURENCE M. THOMAS Professor of Philosophy and Political Science, Maxwell School in Syracuse University, USA
JAMES R. WATSON Professor of Philosophy, Loyola University, New Orleans, USA
PAUL WOODRUFF Darrell K. Royal Professor in Ethics and American Society, Department of Philosophy, University of Texas, Austin, USA
EDITH WYSCHOGROD J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Philosophy Emerita, Rice University, USA

Table of Contents

	List of Contributors	x
	Prologue: Philosophy and Genocide	xvi
Part I	The Problem of Evil: How Does Genocide Affect Philosophy?	1
1	The Evil in Genocide	5
2	Rights, Morality, and Faith in the Light of the Holocaust	18
3	How Should Genocide Affect Philosophy?	29
4	Genocide, Despair, and Religious Hope: An Essay on Human Nature	35
5	The Holocaust and Language	46
6	Genocide, Evil, and Injustice: Competing Hells	65
Part II	Innocent or Guilty? Philosophy's Involvement in Genocide	79
7	The Doctorhood of Genocide	82
8	The Philosophical Warrant for Genocide	95
9	The Rational Constitution of Evil: Reflections on Franz Baermann Steiner's Critique of Philosophy	105
10	Epistemic Conditions for Genocide	115
11	Genocide and the Totalizing Philosopher: A Levinasian Analysis	130
12	Why Do the Happy Inhabitants of Tahiti Bother to Exist at All?	139
Part III	Will Genocide Ever End? Genocides's Challenge to Philosophy	149
13	Refocusing Genocide: A Philosophical Responsibility	153
14	Genocide and Crimes against Humanity	167
15	Innocence, Genocide, and Suicide Bombings	181
16	Beyond the Affectations of Philosophy	192
17	The Warring Logics of Genocide	207
18	Philosophy's Obligation to the Human Being in the Aftermath of Genocide	220
Part IV	Resistance, Responsibility, and Human Rights: Philosophy's Response to Genocide	233
19	Genocide and Social Death	238
20	Genocide and the "Logic" of Racism	255
21	The Right to Life, Genocide, and the Problem of Bystander States	265
22	Repudiating Inhumanity: Cosmopolitan Justice and the Obligation to Prosecute Human Rights Atrocities	277
23	"The Human Material is Too Weak"	287
24	Virtue Ethics, Mass Killing, and Hatred	298
25	Shame, the Holocaust, and Dark Times	304
	Epilogue: "After? ... Meaning What?"	326
	Select Bibliography	334
	Index	341

Editorial Reviews

'Although it is often said that philosophers have nothing important to say about genocide, the essays in this book prove otherwise. The topic is covered from numerous points of view and always with care. One can only hope that by gaining a better understanding of how evil of this magnitude is possible, we will be in a better position to stop it from happening again.' - Kenneth Seeskin,

Professor of Philosophy, Northwestern University, USA

'John K. Roth's Genocide and Human Rights makes a significant contribution to the philosophical study of genocide. Although most contributors to this volume are philosphers from the analytic tradition, many are open to, and directly invoke the work of, continental thinkers. This inclusive approach is welcome... The result is a rich and conceptually illuminating discussion that will no doubt stimulate further philosophical reflection on genocide and other forms of mass violence.' - Journal of Genocide Research

From the Publisher