With large questions of right and wrong, there is a division of labour. So, with the attack on three subway trains and a bus in London on July 7, 2005. Of what moral relevance, if any, was the fact that the British army had been engaged in the killing of greatly more of a people with whom the terrorists identified? Of what relevance, as a newspaper article asked a week later, was the fact that the British prime minister put his own people at risk in the service of a foreign power? So begins Ted Honderich's intelligent and thoughtful analysis in "Terrorism and Humanity". What Honderich says will doubtless cause a great deal of controversy too (his last book on this subject was initially banned in Germany on the grounds it was anti-Semitic, only to be re-published by a Jewish press). However, his views will also be acceptable to a great many Jews (he puts forward arguments to justify the founding of Israel and its secure perpetual existence). Looking in detail at the situation in Palestine, 9/11, the war in Iraq and the events of 7/7, Ted Honderich offers neither a sensationalist rant nor an academic treatise. Instead "Terrorism and Humanity" provides a thoughtful and perceptive exploration of the "biggest" issue facing the western world today.

Author Biography

Ted Honderich is Grote Professor Emeritus of Mind and Logic at UCL. His many publications include How Free are You?, Philosopher: A kind of life, The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Conservatism: Burke, Nozick, Bush, Blair, Terrorism for Humanity and Afterthe Terror.