Genocide and Human Rights

Genocide is evil or nothing could be. It raises a host of questions about humanity, rights, justice, and reality, which are key areas of concern for philosophy. Strangely, however, philosophers have tended to ignore genocide. Even more problematic, philosophy and philosophers bear more responsibility for genocide than they have usually admitted. In Genocide and Human Rights: A Philosophical Guide, an international group of twenty-five contemporary philosophers work to correct those deficiencies by showing how philosophy can and should respond to genocide, particularly in ways that defend human rights.

Genocide is evil or nothing could be. It raises a host of questions about humanity, rights, justice, and reality, which are key areas of concern for philosophy. Strangely, however, philosophers have tended to ignore genocide. Even more problematic, philosophy and philosophers bear more responsibility for genocide than they have usually admitted. In Genocide and Human Rights: A Philosophical Guide, an international group of twenty-five contemporary philosophers work to correct those deficiencies by showing how philosophy can and should respond to genocide, particularly in ways that defend human rights.

Prologue and Acknowledgments: Philosophy and Genocide; J.K.Roth Notes on Contributors PART I: THE PROBLEM OF EVIL: HOW DOES GENOCIDE AFFECT PHILOSOPHY? The Evil in Genocide; B.Lang Rights, Morality, and Faith in the Light of the Holocaust; S.Lee How Should Genocide Affect Philosophy?; F.Sontag Genocide, Despair, and Religious Hope: An Essay on Human Nature; S.T.Davis The Holocaust and Language; D.Z.Phillips Genocide, Evil, and Injustice: Competing Hells; T.W.Simon PART II: INNOCENT OR GUILTY? PHILOSOPHY'S INVOLVEMENT IN GENOCIDE The Doctorhood of Genocide; C.Tatz The Philosophical Warrant for Genocide; D.Patterson The Rational Constitution of Evil: Reflections on Franz Baermann Steiner's Critique of Philosophy; M.Mack Epistemic Conditions for Genocide; E.C.Eze Genocide and the Totalizing Philosopher; L.Grob Why Do the Happy Inhabitants of Tahiti Bother to Exist at All?; R.Bernasconi PART III: WILL GENOCIDE EVER END? GENOCIDE'S CHALLENGE TO PHILOSOPHY Refocusing Genocide: A Philosophical Responsibility; R.Gaita Genocide and Crimes against Humanity; N.Geras Innocence, Genocide, and Suicide Bombings; L.M.Thomas Beyond the Affectations of Philosophy; J.R.Watson The Warring Logics of Genocide; E.Wyschogrod Philosophy's Obligation to the Human Being in the Aftermath of Genocide; P.C.Santilli PART IV: RESISTANCE, RESPONSIBILITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS: PHILOSOPHY'S RESPONSE TO GENOCIDE Genocide and Social Death; C.Card Genocide and the 'Logic' of Racism; J.K.Roth The Right to Life, Genocide, and the Problem of Bystander States; D.H.Jones Repudiating Inhumanity: Cosmopolitan Justice and the Obligation to Prosecute Human Rights Atrocities; P.Hayden 'The Human Material Is Too Weak'; R.S.Gottlieb Virtue Ethics, Mass Killing, and Hatred; P.Woodruff Shame, the Holocaust, and Dark Times; M.L.Morgan Epilogue: 'After? . . . Meaning what?'; J.K.Roth Select Bibliography About the Editor and Contributors Index