What's Wrong With Terrorism? (PDF)

Terrorists perform terrible acts. They maim, mutilate and kill in
pursuit of their goals. The horrifying events of 9/11 and the
regular suicide bombings around the world have made terrorism one
of the central preoccupations of the twenty-first century. But what
is the distinctive wrong of terrorism? Criminal acts such as murder
and hijacking are already on the moral statute books, so why is it
that we regard terrorists as different from and morally worse than
ordinary killers and kidnappers?

Some see terrorism is an ideology, others claim it is a
deep-seated social or psychological failing, others that it is a
form of fighting unfairly judged by just-war standards. In this
provocative new book, Robert Goodin puts forward the view that
terrorism is, in fact, a deliberate tactic of frightening people
for socio-political gain. Fear affects peoples ability to reason
clearly and undermines their capacity for autonomous
self-government.

In this way, Goodin contends that terror is not only the weapon
of organizations such as al-Qaeda; it also benefits democratic
politicians who profit from the climate of insecurity induced by
terrorist threats and violence. Political figures conducting a
campaign of fear as part of their war on terrorism may therefore be
committing wrongs akin to those of terrorists themselves. This,
Goodin argues, is what is distinctively wrong with terrorism in the
contemporary world.