Stephen Law

Jerry Cohen's chapter from the new book is available on-line here . I think it's one of the strongest pieces in the book. My own contribution (three thousand words) is pasted in below. Terror in Palestine: A Non-Violent Alternative? Stephen Law In this volume, the philosophers Ted Honderich and Tomis Kapitan argue that Palestinians have a moral right to use terrorism. Honderich’s and Kapitan’s arguments differ. For example, Honderich’s is rooted in his Principle of Humanity, while Kapitan develops a justification within something like the framework of ‘just war theory’. Nevertheless, both arguments conclude that Palestinian terrorism has been justified in at least some instances. And both rest on a key premise: that the Palestinians have had available to them no viable alternative to the use of terrorism. Honderich writes: that the Palestinians' only means to a viable state has been and may still be terrorism is something about which I myself have no doubt. Evidently it is ...

Israel, Palestine and Terror is out at amazon.co.uk. Edited by me, it features contributions by many very eminent philosophers (and also myself). Noam Chomsky, Igor Primoratz, William McBride, Jerry Cohen and Ted Honderich, among others. Some very fiery and provocative papers among them. Tony Benn was kind enough to provide a flattering comment for the back cover. Back to the vanishing God shortly....