Trust and Violence

An Essay on a Modern Relationship

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Political, Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Cover of the book Trust and Violence by Jan Philipp Reemtsma, Princeton University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jan Philipp Reemtsma ISBN: 9781400842346
Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication: April 22, 2012
Imprint: Princeton University Press Language: English
Author: Jan Philipp Reemtsma
ISBN: 9781400842346
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication: April 22, 2012
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Language: English

The limiting of violence through state powers is one of the central projects of the modern age. Why then have recent centuries been so bloody? In Trust and Violence, acclaimed German intellectual and public figure Jan Philipp Reemtsma demonstrates that the aim of decreasing and deterring violence has gone hand in hand with the misleading idea that violence is abnormal and beyond comprehension. We would be far better off, Reemtsma argues, if we acknowledged the disturbing fact that violence is normal. At the same time, Reemtsma contends that violence cannot be fully understood without delving into the concept of trust. Not in violence, but in trust, rests the foundation of true power.

Reemtsma makes his case with a wide-ranging history of ideas about violence, from ancient philosophy through Shakespeare and Schiller to Michel Foucault, and by considering specific cases of extreme violence from medieval torture to the Holocaust and beyond. In the midst of this gloomy account of human tendencies, Reemtsma shrewdly observes that even dictators have to sleep at night and cannot rely on violence alone to ensure their safety. These authoritarian leaders must trust others while, by means other than violence, they must convince others to trust them. The history of violence is therefore a history of the peculiar relationship between violence and trust, and a recognition of trust's crucial place in humanity.

A broad and insightful book that touches on philosophy, sociology, and political theory, Trust and Violence sheds new, and at times disquieting, light on two integral aspects of our society.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The limiting of violence through state powers is one of the central projects of the modern age. Why then have recent centuries been so bloody? In Trust and Violence, acclaimed German intellectual and public figure Jan Philipp Reemtsma demonstrates that the aim of decreasing and deterring violence has gone hand in hand with the misleading idea that violence is abnormal and beyond comprehension. We would be far better off, Reemtsma argues, if we acknowledged the disturbing fact that violence is normal. At the same time, Reemtsma contends that violence cannot be fully understood without delving into the concept of trust. Not in violence, but in trust, rests the foundation of true power.

Reemtsma makes his case with a wide-ranging history of ideas about violence, from ancient philosophy through Shakespeare and Schiller to Michel Foucault, and by considering specific cases of extreme violence from medieval torture to the Holocaust and beyond. In the midst of this gloomy account of human tendencies, Reemtsma shrewdly observes that even dictators have to sleep at night and cannot rely on violence alone to ensure their safety. These authoritarian leaders must trust others while, by means other than violence, they must convince others to trust them. The history of violence is therefore a history of the peculiar relationship between violence and trust, and a recognition of trust's crucial place in humanity.

A broad and insightful book that touches on philosophy, sociology, and political theory, Trust and Violence sheds new, and at times disquieting, light on two integral aspects of our society.

More books from Princeton University Press

Cover of the book Plato's Democratic Entanglements by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book The Cosmic Cocktail by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book To Cast the First Stone by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book A New Stoicism by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book How Statesmen Think by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book Biomolecular Feedback Systems by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book Weimar Germany by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book "Keep the Damned Women Out" by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book NATO in Afghanistan by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book Tradition and the Formation of the Talmud by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book Digital Government by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book Why Tolerate Religion? by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book Poverty and Discrimination by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Cover of the book The Birth of Modern Belief by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy