The

The least of all possible evils : humanitarian violence from Arendt to Gaza

By - Weizman, Eyal.
Floor - Floor 1
Published - London ; New York : Verso, 2011.
ISBN 10 - 1844676471
ISBN 13 - 9781844676477
Book Status - 1 Qnty Available with us.
Subject - Political ethics. , Political violence--Moral and ethical aspects. , Multinational armed forces--Moral and ethical aspects. , International relations--Moral and ethical aspects.
Shelf No - 13
Call Number - 303.482 WEI
Edition - Includes bibliographical references and index.
Physical Description - viii, 196 pages : color illustrations ; 22 cm
Book Information
Groundbreaking exploration of the philosophy underpinning Western humanitarian intervention The principle of the “lesser evil”—the acceptability of pursuing one exceptional course of action in order to prevent a greater injustice—has long been a cornerstone of Western ethical philosophy. From its roots in classical ethics and Christian theology, to Hannah Arendt’s exploration of the work of the Jewish Councils during the Nazi regime, Weizman explores its development in three key transformations of the problem: the defining intervention of Médecins Sans Frontières in mid-1980s Ethiopia; the separation wall in Israel-Palestine; and international and human rights law in Bosnia, Gaza and Iraq. Drawing on a wealth of new research, Weizman charts the latest manifestation of this age-old idea. In doing so he shows how military and political intervention acquired a new “humanitarian” acceptability and legality in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

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