Liberty in the Age of Terror: A Defence of Civil Liberties and Enlightenment ValuesAn impassioned defence of the civil liberties and the rule of law in the face of increasing pressure for ever greater 'security' 'A rollicking defence of Freedom and Enlightenment in the style of Tom Paine or William Godwin' Spectator 'The even-handed tone of philosophy professor AC Grayling's latest book does not lessen the intensity of its polemical content ... Grayling underlines the seriousness of today's threats to our liberties' Metro "The means of defence against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." James Madison Our societies, says Anthony Grayling, are under attack not only from the threat of terrorism, but also from our governments' attempts to fight that threat by reducing freedom in our own societies - think the 42-day detention controversy, CCTV surveillance, increasing invasion of privacy, ID Cards, not to mention Abu Ghraib, rendition, Guantanamo... As Grayling says: 'There should be a special place for political irony in the catalogues of human folly. Starting a war 'to promote freedom and democracy' could in certain though rare circumstances be a justified act; but in the case of the Second Gulf War that began in 2003, which involved reacting to criminals hiding in one country (Al Qaeda in Afghanistan or Pakistan) by invading another country (Iraq), one of the main fronts has, dismayingly, been the home front, where the War on Terror takes the form of a War on Civil Liberties in the spurious name of security. To defend 'freedom and democracy', Western governments attack and diminish freedom and democracy in their own country. By this logic, someone will eventually have to invade the US and UK to restore freedom and democracy to them.' In this lucid and timely book Grayling sets out what's at risk, engages with the arguments for and against examining the cases made by Isaiah Berlin and Ronald Dworkin on the one hand, and Roger Scruton and John Gray on the other, and finally proposes a different way to respond that makes defending the civil liberties on which western society is founded the cornerstone for defeating terrorism. |
Contents
Compromising Liberty | |
Why Liberty Matters | |
Privacy | |
Democracy | |
We the People | |
Civil Liberties and Human Rights | |
DEBATES | |
Introduction to Part II | |
Liberty and Enlightenment Values | |
Isaiah Berlin and Liberty | |
Identity and Identities | |
Equality and Justice | |
Civil Liberties in the West | |
Free Speech and Censorship | |
Free Speech and Civil Liberties | |
Tolerance | |
The War on Terror | |
Combating Terrorism | |
Surveillance and Identity | |
Identity for Sale | |
Ronald Dworkin and Liberty | |
Roger Scruton and Sentimental Reaction | |
John Gray and the Pose of Pessimism | |
Slavoj Zizek and the Inversion of Values | |
John Ralston Saul and Voltaires Bastards | |
Hope and the Good | |
History and Progress in the Twentieth Century | |
Justice at Last? | |
Laws and measures that have reduced civil liberties in the United Kingdom and the United States in recent years | |
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Common terms and phrases
A. C. Grayling achieve argue argument Article attack authority belief Berlin’s biometric biometric data British CCTV censorship century citizens civil liberties claim committed conflict constitution contemporary Convention countries court crime criminal culture debate defend democratic effect Enlightenment equality example existence fact free speech George W government’s Gray Gray’s harm human rights idea identity card identity card scheme immigrants individual individual’s interests Islam justice legislation liberal democracies liberal society limit live matters means monitoring moral Muslim National Identity Register offence one’s organisations person police political powers Prevention of Terrorism principle problem protection question reason recognise religion religious respect response rights and freedoms Scruton security services social surveillance Terrorism Act 2000 terrorist things thought threat today’s Todorov tolerance UDHR United unlawful enemy combatant values violence War on Terror wellbeing wiretapping Zizek