Is Terrorism Justified ?
Is Terrorism Justified ?
Is terrorism ever justifiable ? The answer is no, terrorism is never justifiable. I will argue that terrorism is not justifiable because it does not contribute to a goal of a more peaceful society. Terrorism contributes to conflict, no matter what reason is used to legitimize it. But in order to argue that terrorism is unjustifiable I must first decide on a definition of terrorism. This definition encompasses all the acts that we would determine as terrorism. This includes acts that one side would label as “freedom fighting” and another would label as terrorism. Terrorism is violence set against non-combatants in order to intimidate a side to submit to a particular goal. For something to be justifiable, it needs to be morally right and it can never be morally right to intimidate people with violence whose sole purpose is to shock, intimidate and/or cause fear. What is terrorism ? The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy presents several definitions from different thinkers:
The performance of violent acts, directed against one or more persons, intended by the performing agent to intimidate one or more persons and thereby to bring about one or more of the agent's political goals (Bauhn 1989: 28).
The tactic of intentionally targeting non-combatants [or non-combatant property, when significantly related to life and security] with lethal or severe violence … meant to produce political results via the creation of fear (Coady 2001: 1697).
The deliberate use of violence, or threat of its use, against innocent people, with the aim of intimidating some other people into a course of action they otherwise would not take (Primoratz 2004: 24).[1]
All three of these definitions agree that terrorism has a) violence and b) is done to compel a course of action. The rest of it is unclear. What qualifies as an “innocent” person ? Does a bomb planted at the offices of a murderous regime count as terrorism ? And what is a non combatant ? Do off
Is terrorism ever justifiable ? The answer is no, terrorism is never justifiable. I will argue that terrorism is not justifiable because it does not contribute to a goal of a more peaceful society. Terrorism contributes to conflict, no matter what reason is used to legitimize it. But in order to argue that terrorism is unjustifiable I must first decide on a definition of terrorism. This definition encompasses all the acts that we would determine as terrorism. This includes acts that one side would label as “freedom fighting” and another would label as terrorism. Terrorism is violence set against non-combatants in order to intimidate a side to submit to a particular goal. For something to be justifiable, it needs to be morally right and it can never be morally right to intimidate people with violence whose sole purpose is to shock, intimidate and/or cause fear. What is terrorism ? The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy presents several definitions from different thinkers:
The performance of violent acts, directed against one or more persons, intended by the performing agent to intimidate one or more persons and thereby to bring about one or more of the agent's political goals (Bauhn 1989: 28).
The tactic of intentionally targeting non-combatants [or non-combatant property, when significantly related to life and security] with lethal or severe violence … meant to produce political results via the creation of fear (Coady 2001: 1697).
The deliberate use of violence, or threat of its use, against innocent people, with the aim of intimidating some other people into a course of action they otherwise would not take (Primoratz 2004: 24).[1]
All three of these definitions agree that terrorism has a) violence and b) is done to compel a course of action. The rest of it is unclear. What qualifies as an “innocent” person ? Does a bomb planted at the offices of a murderous regime count as terrorism ? And what is a non combatant ? Do off
Cited: Chomsky, N. (2007). Failed states: the abuse of power and the assault on democracy. London: Penguin. Primoratz, I. (2010). Terrorism. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (winter 2010 edition). Retrieved April 6, 2011, from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2010/entries/terrorism/ ----------------------- [1] (Primoratz, 2010) [2] (Chomsky, 2007) p 36 [3] Bentham lecture on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYPbYDO0Bw0 [6] (Chomsky, 2007) p 20