2083F

Philosophy
in a time of
Terror

Western University
Department of Philosophy
Terrorism 2083F
Section 001
Fall 2013

Professor: Michael Laurence

Email: mlauren4@uwo.ca

Office: Rm 1144, Stevenson Hall

Office Hours: Mondays &
Wednesdays 2-3pm

Class Times and Location: Mon. 3:30-5:30 pm, TC-343 (Talbot College)
Wed. 3:30-4:30 pm, TC-343 (Talbot College)

Course Objective:
Terrorism, argues Jean Baudrillard, is like a virus. It is everywhere. It accompanies any
system of domination, like a shadow, or a double agent, ready to activate itself.
Our post-9/11 domestic and global political landscapes are increasingly being organized in
response to this ever-present viral threat. An immense new architecture and paradigm of
securitization has been born. Vast surveillance and policing regimes have emerged. States of
exception have been declared, torture and drones deployed, and civil liberties diminished. The
threat of terrorism has spurred the emergence of a desire to securitize all spheres of life, resulting
in what some scholars have termed, the normalization of a state of terror for the purpose of
eradicating terrorism. The antagonism exists everywhere, writes Baudrillard, even within each
one of us: it is terror against terror. We truly live in a time of terror.
If a major task of philosophy is to confront the present then it must address terrorism. It must
grapple with the contexts and conditions of the actualization of terrorism and the forms of terror
unleashed to counter it. Philosophy must seek to understand what it means to do philosophy in a
time of terror.
The basic philosophical questions remain unanswered in any definitive way. What is terrorism?
How does it differ from other forms of violence? Who are the terrorists? Who decides who the
terrorists are? How does the terrorist become a terrorist? How does the discourse of terrorism
function and to what ends? In what ways does it constitute the object of which it speaks? How
should we think the relationship between terror, terrorism, and the state? Is the use of terror ever
justified? Is the war on terror justified? Does the securitization of all aspects of life actually make
us safer? What is the relationship between terror and democracy?
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On our journey we will confront these questions, as well as many others. We will make use of a
variety of resources (film, online media, news sources, fiction, and so on) in an effort to confront
the concepts and realities of terror, terrorism, and the war on terror.
This course is designed to promote serious philosophical and critical thinking by means
of introducing students to some of the major concepts and debates in the field of Terrorism
Studies. There is a strong participatory component to this course and students will be expected to
take part in discussions, debates, and group activities. Alongside emphases on participation and
critical thinking, this course seeks to promote the further development of professional writing
skills. Most of your course grade depends on your capacity to communicate your thoughts and
arguments effectively in written form. If academic writing is an area in which you struggle, be
proactive and seek help: (http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/writing/).

Required Course Materials:

Available at the Bookstore:
*Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism (Columbia University Press, 2006).
*Talal Asad, On Suicide Bombing (Columbia University Press, 2007).
*Jean Baudrillard, The Spirit of Terrorism (Verso, 2012).
*Additional readings will be assigned and will be made available on OWL in pdf format. These
readings include selections from Frantz Fanon, Franz Kafka, Michael Ignatieff, Slavoj Zizek,
Jean-Paul Sartre, Philip K. Dick, Michel Foucault, Sheldon Wolin, Alison M. Jaggar, Reza
Negarestani, and many others. We will also read some small selections from the writings and
speeches of individuals and groups that have been classified as terrorists or terrorist
organizations.

Course Schedule:

Date
Sept. 9, 2013

Lecture Theme
Introduction to Course

Required Readings
Course Syllabus

A Spectre is Haunting Us...

Philosophy in a Time of
Terror
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Date
Sept. 11, 2013

Lecture Theme
What is Terrorism?
Twelve Years Ago Today...

Sept. 16, 2013

Required Readings
Bruce Hoffman, Inside
Terrorism, 1-41
(Chapter 1).

The Discourse of Terrorism Jeffrey Nealon and Susan

Searls Giroux, On
Group Selection for
Meaning, 24-26 (OWL)
Communiqu Activity
Recommended:
Joseba Zulaika and
William A. Douglass,
Categories and
Allegories, 91-119 (OWL)

Sept. 18, 2013

The Roots of Modern

Terrorism: Palestine and
Algeria

Bruce Hoffman, Inside

Terrorism, 43-62
(Chapter 2).
Recommended:
Start on Frantz Fanon, The
Wretched of the Earth
(OWL)

Sept. 23, 2013

The Roots of Modern

Terrorism: Frantz Fanon,
Pure Violence, and the
Postcolonial

Frantz Fanon, The

Wretched of the Earth,
33-62 (OWL)

Recommended:
Jean-Paul Sartre,
Preface, in Frantz Fanon,
The Wretched of the Earth,
5-31 (OWL)
Franz Fanon, Algeria
Unveiled, (OWL)

Date

Lecture Theme

Required Readings

Sept. 25, 2013

Frantz Fanon and the

Colonial Subject: The
Internalization of
Domination

Frantz Fanon, The

Wretched of the Earth,
63-106 (OWL)

Sept. 30, 2013

Group Communiqu
Activity

Prepare for Presentation

Oct. 2, 2013

The Morality of Terrorism

Alison M. Jaggar. What is

Terrorism, Why Is It
Wrong, and Could It Ever
Be Morally Permissible?
Journal of Social
Philosophy,
Vol. 36 No. 2 (2005):
202-217 (OWL).

Oct. 7, 2013

Everybody Talks About the

Weather...We Dont.

Selections from Ulrike

Meinhof (OWL).

Film Viewing: The Baader

Meinhof Complex

RAF, Concept of the Urban

Guerilla (OWL)

*** In-Class Group

Communiqu Activity

Bruce Hoffman, Inside

Terrorism, 63-80
(Chapter 3).
Oct. 9, 2013

The Weather Underground

Revolutionary Desire and
the Revolutionary Subject

Oct. 14, 2013

No Class - Thanksgiving
Monday

Selections from the

Weather Underground
(OWL)
No Readings

Date
Oct. 16, 2013

Lecture Theme
The Meaning(s) of 9/11

Required Readings
Jim OBrien, The
Contested Meaning of 9/11
http://rhr.dukejournals.org/
content/2011/111/5.full.pdf
+html
Jeffrey Goldberg, The Real
Meaning of 9/11 http://
www.theatlantic.com/
national/archive/2011/08/
the-real-meaningof-9-11/244120/
Recommended:
Ed Vulliamy, 9/11 Ten
Years On, The Guardian:
http://
www.theguardian.com/
world/2011/aug/21/9-11ed-vulliamy-rememberstwin-towers?
INTCMP=SRCH

Oct. 21, 2013

In-Class Film Review

*** In-Class Film Review

Film Viewing: TBA

Oct. 23, 2013

The Meaning(s) of 9/11

Continued
Talal Asad: Beyond the
Clash of Civilizations

No Readings

Talal Asad, Chapter 1:

Terrorism, in On Suicide
Bombing, 7-38.
Recommended:
Samuel Huntington, The
Clash of Civilizations
(OWL)

Date
Oct. 28, 2013

Lecture Theme

Required Readings

Suicide Bombing:
Weaponizing Life

Talal Asad, Chapter 2:

Suicide Terrorism, in On
Suicide Bombing, 39-64.

How to Write Your Critical

Book Review

Riaz Hassan, What Have

We Learned?, in Suicide
Bombings, 84-97 (OWL).
Recommended:
Bruce Hoffman, Inside
Terrorism, 131-171
(Chapter 5).

Oct. 30, 2013

Oh the Horror!
Liberalism and Terror

Talal Asad, Chapter 3:

Horror at Suicide
Terrorism, in On Suicide
Bombing, 65-96.
Recommended:
Selections from Brad
Evans, Liberal Terror
(OWL)

Nov. 4, 2013

On the Scene After A

Suicide Attack: Precarious
Identities and the
Dissolution of the Body

Selections from Georges

Bataille (OWL)

Nov. 6, 2013

Introduction to Jean
Baudrillard: The Spirit of
Terrorism

Jean Baudrillard, The

Spirit of Terrorism, 3-26.

Nov. 11, 2013

Beyond Good and Evil:

Domination, Viral Terror,
and the Secret Coalition.

Jean Baudrillard, The Spirit

of Terrorism, 27-63.

Date

Lecture Theme

Required Readings

Nov. 13, 2013

Voices of Terror: Al Qaeda

***Critical Book Review

Due In Class

Declaration of War Against

Americans

Selections from Raymond

Ibrahim, ed., The Al Qaeda
Reader (OWL).
Selections from Bruce
Lawrence, ed., Messages
to the World: The
Statements of Osama Bin
Laden (OWL)

Nov. 18, 2013

Citizen or Terrorist?
Which is Which?
Designating the Enemy
HBOs Homeland

Reza Negarestani, The

Militarization of Peace,
http://
ciudadtecnicolor.les.word
press.com/2011/01themilitarization-of-peace.pdf
Recommended:
Philip K. Dick, Impostor
http://ww2.valdosta.edu/
%7Easantas/Texts/
Impostor.pdf

Nov. 20, 2013

Living in a Time of Mass

Surveillance and
Securitization

Michel Foucault, Discipline

and Punish, 195-228
(OWL)
Klaus Brinkbaumer, NSA
Snooping: The War on
Terror is Americas Mania,
http://www.spiegel.de/
international/world/spiegelcommentary-on-usinternet-surveillancea-911256.html

Date
Nov. 25, 2013

Lecture Theme
Drones: Domestic and
Global Dronescapes
Ethics in an Age of
Intelligent Machines
Film Viewing: Unthinkable

Required Readings
What the Drone Saw
(Short Video) http://
www.guardian.co.uk/
artanddesign/video/2013/
jul/25/drone-iwmcontemporary-omer-fastart-video
Fred Kaplan, The World
as Free-Fire Zone, MIT
Technology Review Vol.
116.4 (OWL)
Recommended:
Drone-hunting http://
rt.com/usa/colorado-dronehunting-licenses-233/
Life as a Drone Operator
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
world/2013/jul/28/life-usdrone-operator-artist
Rise of the Drones (1 Hour
Documentary) http://
www.youtube.com/watch?
v=SiyeQQrJZC4

Nov. 27, 2013

Torture: The Collusion

Between Morality and
Violence

Michael Ignatieff, The

Lesser Evil, 1-24 (OWL)
Vittorio Bufacchi and Jean
Maria Arrigo, Torture,
Terrorism and the State: A
Refutation of the TickingBomb Argument, in
Journal of Applied
Philosophy, Vol. 23, No. 3
(2006), 355-373 (OWL).

Date
Dec. 2, 2013

Lecture Theme
In Excess: Slavoj Zizek
and Moral Reasoning

Required Readings
Slavoj Zizek, Welcome to
the Desert of the Real,
26-27, 33-57 (OWL).
Slavoj Zizek, Selections
from On Violence (OWL)

Dec. 4, 2013

The Violence of the Global

Jean Baudrillard, The

Spirit of Terrorism, 67-79.

Final Essay Due at

Beginning of Class

Slavoj Zizek, Selections

from On Violence (OWL)

***Final Essay Due

*Adjustments to readings and themes may occur throughout the term.

Assignment Deadlines and Policies:
Fall Term:
Assignment

Due Date

% Weight

Group Communique
Activity

Sept. 30, 2013

During Class

10%

In-Class Film Review

Oct. 21, 2013

During Class

10%

Critical Book Review

(4 pages)

Nov. 13, 2013

Due at Beginning of Class

25%

Final Essay
(8-10 pages)

Dec. 4, 2013
Due at Beginning of Class

35%

Participation

10%

Attendance

10%

*In-depth guidelines for assignments will be posted on OWL

Essay Submission Policy:
Major Essays must be printed and handed in at the beginning of the lecture at which they are
due. The penalty for late papers begins at the end of class on the due date. Papers submitted after

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this time will be subject to the late penalty (unless prior arrangements have been made with the
instructor).
It is the students responsibility to ensure that his/her assignment has been officially received.
Late Assignment Policy:
Late essay submissions will be subject to penalty. This penalty is a deduction of 5% a day (from
the due date immediately after the lecture is over until the day that the assignment is received by
the instructor, including weekends and holidays). It is your responsibility to ensure that the
assignment is submitted and formally received by me. This policy is designed to promote the
timely submission of work.

AUDIT
Students wishing to audit the course should consult with the instructor prior to or during the first
week of classes.
Important:
The Department of Philosophy Policies which govern the conduct, standards, and expectations
for student participation in Philosophy courses is available in the Undergraduate section of the
Department of Philosophy website at http://uwo.ca/philosophy/undergraduate/
proceduresappeals.html. It is your responsibility to understand the policies set out by the Senate
and the Department of Philosophy, and thus ignorance of these policies cannot be
used as grounds of appeal.
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western http://
www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
This information appears on Page 3, under Support Services at the link: http://www.uwo.ca/
univsec/handbook/exam/courseoutlines.pdf

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