Abstract
On October 2, 1938, less than a year before Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland began World War II, the British philosopher R. G. Collingwood put the finishing touches on his autobiography. Its observations underscored his belief that “the chief business of twentieth-century philosophy is to reckon with twentieth-century history.”1 Collingwood’s primary intention was to urge philosophers to pay more attention to the discipline of history—its methods, consciousness of context, and attention to detail—so that philosophy might be less abstract, more aware of its own historical heritage, and directed more fully to inquiry about problems raised by historical thinking (e.g., how is historical knowledge possible?). At least by implication, this call for an up-to-date philosophy of history meant that philosophy’s responsibilities included paying close attention to twentieth-century events as well.
I promise you that after.
Elie Wiesel, One Generation After
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Notes
R. G. Collingwood, An Autobiography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1939), p. 79.
R. G. Collingwood Holocaust Politics (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), pp. 27–32.
R. G. Collingwood Genocide and Human Rights: A Philosophical Guide (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).
Emil Fackenheim, “The Holocaust and Philosophy,” The Journal of Philosophy 82 (October 1985): 505.
Raphael Lemkin, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation, Analysis of Government, Proposals for Redress (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1944), p. 79.
Omer Bartov, “Extreme Violence and the Scholarly Community,” International Social Science Journal 54 (December 2002): 509.
Richard L. Rubenstein and John K. Roth, Approaches to Auschwitz: The Holocaust and Its Legacy, rev. edn. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003).
Dinah L. Shelton, ed., The Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity (Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference, 2004).
Richard J. Bernstein, Radical Evil: A Philosophical Interrogation (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2002)
Susan Neiman, Evil in Modern Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002).
David Patterson and John K. Roth, eds., After-Words: Post-Holocaust Struggles with Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Justice (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004)
Carol Rittner, John K. Roth, and James M. Smith, eds., Will Genocide Ever End? (St. Paul, MN: Paragon House, 2002).
Elie Wiesel, One Generation After, trans. Lily Edelman and the author (New York: Avon Books, 1972), pp. 72–3.
Roméo Dallaire, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, with Brent Beardsley (Toronto: Random House Canada, 2003).
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© 2005 John K. Roth
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Roth, J.K. (2005). Will Genocide Ever End?. In: Ethics During and After the Holocaust. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230513105_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230513105_11
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