Democracy must become postnational and new procedures and forms of this must be developed argues Habermas.
I don't agree with Habemas when he vaguely answers the question of the magnitude of the 9/11 attack. He basically tries to place it in perspective to other human tragedies and deny its impact on world history. The important thing is the American sentiments and reactions and their subsequent response to it. It has already changed history and will continue to do so for a long time, it's useless to deny that fact.
In Kant's "Eternal Peace" from 1795, he writes "The people of the Earth have now become so closely connected to one another that any violation (of human rights) are felt and experienced by all".
The truly interesting thing about "Philosophy in a Time of Terror" are not the analysis nor the political proposals that are formulated within it, but the view on the role of philosophy and politics that it propagates. Enlightenment and democracy are not fixed entities that are behind us, but rather challenges ahead of us in the future. The reflections of both Derrida and Habermas after 9/11 are examples of enlightenment that are contemplative and aware of its own limitations.
Thomas Ek
Article comments
1 - Aaman
All terrorist actions, collectively, have changed human history, if only in the form of creating a sense of concern over addressing the general unrest that seems to affect many non-state actors in the modern era. Much of this, IMHO, is because many nations created in the twentieth century were malformed nation states - Iraq is a good example, which did not possess the innate national identity essential for stable, healthy nation states. The dispossessed, displeased, and disaffected groups turned to terrorism, coupled with a lack of education, employment and misplaced religous fervor.
2 - Thomas Ek
Thank you for your comment Aaman!
I agree with you that especially in the Middle East, the Nation States are not particularly well-formed, nor do they offer much in the way of democracy.
I disagree with you on the point of lack of education however, since the horrific fact is that most fundamentalists education level is quite high, suicide bombers of hamas and hizbollah excluded, the fundamentalists of the Muslim Brotherhood, Jihad and Al-Qaida all seem to be resonably well educated by western standards. Unemployment is a factor though, and lack of democracy. What is striking in the Middle East is that the repressive regimes, most of them supported by us in the west only use Islam to suit their needs and people in the region recognize that and in their desperation turn towards even more repressive dogmas of fundamentalist doctrines. It is really peverted religious theology that now takes root in the "arab street". It doesn't take a scholar to debunk al-qaida teachings. For example: Both al-qaida and the Talibans are sunni and despise the shia, yet they often use shia rhetoric and shia blood mythology to stir up religious fevour. They use quotations from shia religious scholars that suit their twisted beliefs.
The real tragedy is that, unfortunately, terrorism works to some extent. The examples are numerous. The suicide bombers of ANC in South Africa were praised by Nelson Mandela and to my knowledge nobody calls him a terrorist today. The Jewish Stern Gang, who killed my fellow countryman, Swedish Royal UN envoy to Palestine, Folke Bernadotte, later saw one of their members becoming Prime Minister of Israel (Menachem Begin), eventhough he was wanted as a terrorist in Great Britain. Where do freedom fighting end and terrorism begin?
Thomas Ek
3 - Aaman
I do not know - perhaps to the victors belong the writing rights, in a manner of speaking. I am reminded, in a similar vein, of Bhagat Singh, Indian revolutionary, termed a terrorist by the British pre-Independence, and revered as a freedom fighter in India today.
4 - Karl-Heinz Wille
I am a great admirer and reader of all books and texts of Jürgen Habermas.
And by the way I have all his books and texts (auf Deutsch, of course!).
I am looking for the interview of Habermas with Borradori in the English translation: Philosophy in a Time of Terror Here you can find an excerpt, but I need the whole text - the whole interview - in English
I have Habermas' book Der gespaltene Westen and I have Borradori's book Philosophie in Zeiten des Terrors There this interview can be found in German, but I need the whole interview in English. I need the whole interview for some American friends of mine.
I speak it out: Does anybody of you have this interview as an electronical file? PDF or MS-Word or TXT doesn't matter I don't want to buy this book in an English translation. Please, can you help me?
Many thanks in advance.
Karl-Heinz Wille
Hamburg / Deutschland