PHILOSOPHERS VIEW ON TERRORISM SERIES

Even more fundamental to these goals is the requirement of focal points of speech or, 'speakers', be it international organizations, heads of state, or even military dictators. The possibility of attaining ideal circumstances of equality and reciprocity in order to achieve a balanced system of interaction requires that all participants stand on the same playing field, however uneven it may be.

PHILOSOPHERS VIEW ON TERRORISM SERIES

Habermas hopes that by clearing these roadblocks we can begin to have a series of rational dialogues, the immediate goal being an agreement on standard that can determine answers to difficult questions of international relations. It is our duty, and it is necessary if we hope to effectively address terror, that we as a community of superior rational nations form an organization with the goal of eliminating global inequality brought on by the imbalance of the superpowers in order to facilitate rational equitable discussion among equals. This footing consists of sufficient economic means and educational backgrounds.

More importantly all come to the table with equal footing on the global playing field. He describes an ideal speech situation in which all participants play equal parts as listener and speaker. Habermas gives the simple explanation of failed communicative situations and an imbalance of national wealth as the roots of terrorist violence. The situation proposed by Habermas is both naively optimistic and unfortunately unrealistic. The naive optimism of my contemporariesaside, it is my belief that we do not have the language nor the will to battle such a foe. The West is at this point presented with an enemy that we cannot converse with, strike at, or even truly face in the traditional sense. A discussion of some main points of Habermas and Derrida will help to explain my own views on the matter and show that mine is the only realistic position. The event itself, a return to a history that had been considered finished and done with, has re-illuminated the role of the philosopher in this modern global world.

The recent events of 9/11 and the Suicide of the Twin Towers have been discussed by myself and several of my fellow students in Professor Blamey's Contemporary Philosophy Seminar in recent months. Elizabeth Rard (Writing in the voice of Jean Baudrillard)

Philosophers view on terrorism