Monday, July 25, 2005

Logic of Suicide Terrorism

Albert Camus opened his collection of essays published as The Myth of Sisyphus (Le Mythe de Sisyphe,1942) with these words:
"There is only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide."
Or, as Shakespeare's Hamlet muses:
to be or not to be, that is the question.
An age-old question. A daily question. So be it. Pick up the rock...
I first read Sisyphus a long time ago and only re-read it recently. In doing so, I discovered, yet again, that although the words on the printed page have not changed, I have. That first reading fed an already ballooning existential angst. Years later, I find hope and joy within those pages. Better late, than never. Eh?
That age-old question? That daily question? Not quite so daily. Now. There was a time. More than once, close to the abyss. Perilous, foolhardy, foolish explorations. Here, now? Camus, Sisyphus, and suicide -- they spring to mind given the current headlines.
Follow up to an earlier link about a new book Dying to Win: the Logic of Suicide Terrorism, by Robert Pape. The first link was to an American conservative magazine, this link is to a very left of centre publication. Both are, I suggest, worthwhile reads.

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