Abstract
The contemporary discussion of terrorism has been dominated by deontological and consequentialist arguments. Building upon my previous work on a paradox concerning moral complaint, I try to broaden the perspectives through which we view the issues. The direction that seems to me as most promising is a self-reflexive, conditional, and, to some extent, relational emphasis. What one is permitted to do to others would depend not so much on some absolute code constraning actions or on the estimate of what would optimize overall the resulting well-being but on the precedents that the past actions of those others provided, on the relationships among the participants, on tacit or explicit offers and possible agreements among them, and on the reciprocity (or lack thereof) that ensues.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 65-74 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Philosophia (United States) |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2006 |
Keywords
- Agreements
- Moral complaint
- Prisoners of war
- Reciprocity
- Terrorism
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Philosophy