Showing papers in "Teaching Philosophy in 1993"

Violence, Terrorism, and Justice

Abstract: by Christopher Morris and R.G. Frey I. What is Terrorism? A. The use of violence, usually to achieve social or political goals, with the following frequently conjoined characteristics: (1) violence is designed to create terror, fear, or panic in a population. (2) the use of violence is usually random or arbitrary. (3) non-combatants or “innocents” are often the target. (a) this feature is more controversial given that terrorists often claim that their victims are not innocent. This gives rise to an interesting question, namely, what does it mean for people to be innocent or not responsible for the actions of, for example, their government? II. Can Terrorism Ever Be Justified? A. Act Utilitarianism: in principle could condone the use of terrorism on occasion, if the act of terrorism maximized the well-being of all those affected by an act of terrorism over some peaceful alternative. So, groups broader than those sponsoring and benefitting from the terrorism would have to be considered. (1) Necessary questions to ask (a) Is the terrorist’s means the most effective and efficient way to achieve the desired goal? Here we would have to compare terrorism with other peaceful means to achieve sociopolitical ends, such as non-violent civil disobedience and passive resistance, boycotts etc. These alternative means seem more likely to be efficient and effective, given that they do not tend to harden the resistance of the targeted group as much as terrorism, and given that they often bolster sympathy from outsiders and make it more difficult for aggressors to continue their aggression. (b) Is the goal desirable enough to justify the terrorists horrible methods? For example, is the reunification of Ireland worth the suffering and loss inflicted by the IRA? The key for consequentialists, is that the party we have to consider is not just the IRA but those who are affected by their acts of terror. (2) Rectifying Injustice: given the difficulty of justifying acts of terrorism by appeal to achieving socio-political goals, such as the reclamation of territory or the elimination of unwanted cultural influence, terrorists often try to justify terrorism by claiming that their acts are concerned with rectifying or eliminating injustice. This is problematic for two reasons: (a) One problem, of course, is that there is usually something to be said to support both sides of the conflict, hence the parties do not fall so neatly into the “just” and “unjust” categories. This makes the endeavor to rectify injustice through terrorism different from using legal punishment to rectify the injustice of a murder. (b) Moreover, can we rectify one injustice without perpetrating another? (3) Conclusion: Although it is theoretically possible to justify terrorism using consequentialist reasoning, doing so in practice seems to be quite difficult.

Race and the modern philosophy course

Abstract: Les references citees en cours de philosophie sont souvent attribuees a des ecrivains masculins, de race blanche. Les AA., plutot que de se lancer dans un debat ideologique sur la legitimation de ce fait, presentent ce a quoi ressemblerait un cours dont les sources seraient diversifiees. Les suggestions faites ont comme objectif d'etre une base de reflexion pour les enseignants en philosophie

Philosophy and the Search for Wisdom

Abstract: Il est souvent constate que la philosophie, telle qu'elle est enseignee et pratiquee dans les universites, est devenue professionnelle. Les professeurs ont transforme la philosophie en une discipline intellectuelle et une activite professionnelle. La philosophie s'eloigne de sa vocation premiere qui est la quete de la sagesse et une orientation de vie pour ne devenir qu'une etude analytique de concepts. L'A. presente une definition du concept de sagesse et le repositionne au sein de la philosophie

Teaching philosophy, being a philosopher

Abstract: L'A. fait la relation entre deux situations : enseigner la philosophie et etre philosophe. Il analyse sa propre experience d'enseignant et interpelle le lecteur par sa reflexion : Dans ce contexte, comment etre philosophe ?

Analogy as a Guide to Philosophical Thinking

Abstract: Les cours d'initiation a la philosophie ont comme principal objectif de sensibiliser les etudiants aux methodes de pensee philosophique. Les enseignants veulent depuis quelques annees developper une methode systematique pour cet apprentissage, mais reconnaissent qu'une description precise de la maniere de pensee des philosophes est impossible. Ils ne peuvent, alors, pas donner aux debutants de protocoles logiques et rationnels. Pour aider les etudiants a mieux apprehender les modeles de pensee des philosophes, l'A. propose l'utilisation d'analogies