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Reasons for Conflict: Political Implications of a Definition of Terrorism
Author(s) -
Nuzzo Angelica
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
metaphilosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1467-9973
pISSN - 0026-1068
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9973.2004.00322.x
Subject(s) - terrorism , politics , dialectic , hegelianism , political science , spanish civil war , causality (physics) , law , law and economics , sociology , political economy , epistemology , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics
This essay analyzes the U.S. political situation before the 2003 invasion of Iraq and ties this conflict to the events of 9/11. The guiding thread of the discussion is the definition of “terrorism” that has led to George W. Bush's declared “war on terrorism.” By means of Hegel's dialectic logic, the essay exposes the problem offered by the category of causality involved in the definition of terrorism: Is terrorism the original “cause” of the war declared on it by the United States (as the Bush administration claims) or is terrorism rather the very “consequence” of that war?