Philosophers

What would Plato say about terrorism, specifically Al Qadea? What would he say about the role of religion in terrorism, as well. Thank you

Comments

As far as the use of force goes, I would be surprised if Plato would have had much to say about what we call terrorism. This is not because he would approve of the tactic of singling out civilians as targets, in the hopes of demoralizing an enemy; but simply because he would take a lot of such tactics for granted.

The histories of the time indicate two distinct forms of engagement between enemies. On the one hand, a lot of battles on land and sea were fought formally, with arranged battlefields and times to fight (mostly in the summer); on the other hand, when one state besieged another one the attackers would subject everyone within the city walls to the deprivations that were intended to drive the city to surrender. Soldiers frequently distinguished between civilians and members of an army, but there were plenty of instances in which they did not. (See the Athenian attack on the island of Melos, as described in Book 5 of Thucydides, chapters 85-113.)

You seem to have something else in mind, though. It's not just terrorism conceived as the attacks on randomly chosen civilians, but more specifically terrorism as a tool of fundamentalist religion. And here the problem is that Plato registers views toward the religion of his time as apparently contradictory as he does. He defers to religion, especially in the sense of practicing traditional rituals and consulting the oracle at Delphi. He also finds most religious stories, with their slanders about the gods' shabby personal lives, offensive to a believer. His would be a religion purged of its anthropomorphism and its suggestions that the gods ever bring undeserved harm to human beings. No more lying and adulterous gods, only wise beneficent ones. And religious motivations for acts of force might be acceptable, if -- a big "if" -- the religion they are based on is a morally acceptable one.

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