If structural violence is so entrenched that personal violence is the only effective response, then personal violence is an appropriate response.
That (i.e., the title of this short piece) is really all I wanted to say, but probably, some explanation is in order. Letβs start with the notions of βstructuralβ and βpersonal violenceβ, which were introduced by Johan Galtung in 1969: Violence with a clear subject-object relation is manifest because it is visible as action. It corresponds to our ideas of what drama is, and it is personal because there are persons committing the violence. […] Violence without this relation is structural, built into structure. Thus, when one husband beats his wife there is a clear case of personal violence, but...
Fictionalism β or: Vaihinger, Scheffler, and KΓΌbler-Ross at the End of the World
In 1911 the now almost forgotten German philosopher Hans Vaihinger published Die Philosophie des Als Ob (The Philosophy of βAs ifβ) in which he argued for something approaching global fictionalism. In the preface to the second English edition of his book he wrote: The principle of Fictionalism . . . is as follows: βAn idea whose theoretical untruth or incorrectness, and therewith its falsity, is admitted, is not for that reason practically valueless and useless; for such an idea, in spite of its theoretical nullity may have great practical importance.β Fictionalism is the view that claims in some area of...
Fascism, Anti-fascism, and Violence
Surprisingly many people seem to think that anti-fascists are just as bad as the fascists they oppose. (According to one rather unreliable source even Chomsky recently made critical comments about βAntifaβ.) One would think that even a little bit of historical knowledge would prevent such strange ideas, but apparently this isnβt the case. Criticism of the anti-fascists and their tactics comes in β roughly β two kinds. One kind argues that violent tactics are bad because of their bad consequences. The other kind of argument appeals to (implicit) principles rather than to consequences. This short essay discusses β and rejects...