The Philosophical Challenge of September 11

While most people agree that September 11, 2001, witnessed a terribly important series of events, opinions about the meaning of these events diverge sharply. This book searches for sense in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Consisting of fourteen essays written by leading philosophers, most of which have been specially commissioned for this volume, it offers a philosophical reflection on the implications of 9/11. The contributors engage with a broad range of issues associated with the causes and consequences of 9/11, including American imperialism, anti-Americanism, Bushrs"s ls"War on Terrorrs", the idea of pre-emptive war, and the role of the media. They consider how 9/11 has altered the terms and categories of philosophical debate, looking at changes in the conception of moral and political reasoning, rationality and responsibility, and the repercussions for justice, human rights and international law.

Tom Rockmore is Professor of Philosophy at Duquesne University. His previous publications include Cognition: An Introduction to Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit (1997), Marx after Marxism (Blackwell Publishing, 2002) and Before and After Hegel: A Historical Introduction to Hegel’s Thought (2003).

Joseph Margolis is Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy at Temple University. His recent publications include Life without Principles (Blackwell Publishing, 1996), The Unraveling of Scientism: American Philosophy at the End of the Twentieth Century (2003) and Moral Philosophy after 9/11 (2004).

Armen T. Marsoobian is Professor of Philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University. He is Editor-in-chief of the Blackwell journal Metaphilosophy. He has co-edited three books, Justus Buchler’s Metaphysics of Natural Complexes (1990), Nature’s Perspectives: Prospects for Ordinal Metaphysics (1991) and The Blackwell Guide to American Philosophy (Blackwell Publishing, 2004).

Notes on Contributors

vii

1 Introduction

1

(3)

TOM ROCKMORE and JOSEPH MARGOLIS

2 Iraq, American Empire, and the War on Terrorism

4

(15)

GEORGE LEAMAN

3 "Us" and "Them": The Politics of American Self-Assertion after 9/11

19

(23)

ANDREW NORRIS

4 Misreading Islamist Terrorism: The "War against Terrorism" and Just-War Theory

42

(29)

JOSEPH M. SCHWARTZ

5 Of Power and Compassion

71

(10)

SHIBLEY TELHAMI

6 Terror and the Attack on Civil Liberties

81

(15)

RONALD DWORKIN

7 Civilizational Imprisonments

96

(12)

AMARTYA SEN

8 The New Political Infamy and the Sacrilege of Feminism

108

(17)

DRUCILLA CORNELL

9 Reasons for Conflict: Political Implications of a Definition of Terrorism

125

(14)

ANGELICA NUZZO

10 Losing to Terrorism: An American Work in Progress

139

(19)

DAVIS B. BOBROW

11 Preemptive War, Americanism, and Anti-Americanism

158

(20)

DOMENICO LOSURDO

12 On the So-Called War on Terrorism

178

(16)

TOM ROCKMORE

13 Terrorism and the New Forms of War

194

(12)

JOSEPH MARGOLIS

14 Afterword: The Road from September 11 to Abu Ghraib

206

(5)

ARMEN T. MARSOOBIAN

Index

211

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The Philosophical Challenge of September 11

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials