The Nazi concentration camps and the Soviet gulag provide the context for this acclaimed examination of the human capacity for moral life. Drawing on a striking array of documents; Tzvetan Todorov reconstructs a vivid portrait of the conduct of those who ran the camps and those who suffered their outrages. Challenging the widespread view that moral life was extinguished in the extreme circumstances of the camps; he uncovers instead a rich moral universe; composed not of grand acts of heroism but of ordinary gestures of dignity and care; compassion and solidarity.A complex and profound study; Facing the Extreme restores a lost dimension to this anguished history; even as it offers an eloquent plea for the recognition of everyday virtues as a basis for contemporary morality.
#672245 in Books Smith Ted a 2014-11-26 2014-11-26Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .70 x 6.00l; .0 #File Name: 0804793301221 pagesWeird John Brown Divine Violence and the Limits of Ethics
Review
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Wierd?By j a haverstickThe title comes from a contemporary Walt Whitman poem referencing Brown. If you check a 19th cent dictionary or two; as I did; Webster's and Worcester's; you'll discover that the basic definition of the word at that time was "supernatural" (that was surprising to me given how the word has changed in the last 80 or so years). And that is exactly Smith's point. Brown's justification was divine; a stepping beyond the earthly. This loosens up the conversation which for a century has focused on the either/or. Either Brown was a terrorist or patriot. Both these judgements assume the legitimacy of state-only violence. Hence Brown was either advancing the interests of the state or he was attacking its foundation. We need to step outside this box; in Smith's opinion; and ask about the legitimacy of his raid from a suprapolitical point of view.To really respond would take me fifty pages and I'm not going to do it here. Basically; however; I agree. As Smith puts it an unforgetable phrase; any contemporary state - or at least the USA - is in fact "the congealed violence of the past". I have great admiration for the limitatations of the state as expressed in the social contract theory to which we in this land appeal as our foundational theory (Locke; Jefferson). Obligation of the citizen ceases at some point when the state itself has broken the contract. Most people; most of the time; don't face a moral choice about this; but sometimes we do. Smith also shwredly points out that on the street our society has itself gone a long; long way in legitimizing extrastate violence in recent decades: open carry laws; Blackwater; stand your ground; secret renditions and much more. The state itself has made the state-only model passe.If you're ready for a long and detailed read on a profound subject that may challenge your moral reasoning (or confirm it as in my case) you might read this book. Once you get going; you can start to speedread; but much of the thought is closely argued and I couldn't do this as much as is my custom. The thinkers with whom Smith engages are familiar to me at second hand only; though I taught ethics (in the philosophy dept) most of my life...(Frankfurt School and all that if you're in the loop). But Smith makes it clear what issues are involved and so you don't have to be an expert on; say; Benjamin; to get Smith's point. You'll like it if you're an academic and you'll profit from it if you're not but are willing to work.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy CustomerAn important book
