Hope and Memory: Lessons from the Twentieth CenturyPrinceton University Press, 2003 - 337 pagini Both a political history and a moral critique of the twentieth century, this is a personal and impassioned book from one of Europe's most outstanding intellectuals. Identifying totalitarianism as the major innovation of the twentieth century, Tzvetan Todorov examines the struggle between this system and democracy and its effects on human life and consciousness. Totalitarianism managed to impose itself because, more than any other political system, it played on people's need for the absolute: it fed their hope to endow life with meaning by taking part in the construction of a paradise on earth. As a result, millions of people lost their lives in the name of a higher good. While democracy eventually won the struggle against totalitarianism in much of the world, democracy itself is not immune to the pitfall of do-goodery: moral correctness at home and atomic or "humanitarian" bombs abroad. Todorov explores the history of the past century not only by analyzing its spectacular political conflicts but also by offering moving profiles of several individuals who, at great personal cost, resisted the strictures of the communist and Nazi regimes. Some--Margarete Buber-Neumann, David Rousset, Primo Levi, and Germaine Tillion--were deported to concentration camps. Others--Vasily Grossman and Romain Gary--fought courageously in World War II. All became exemplary witnesses who described with great lucidity and humanity what they had endured. This book preserves the memory of the past as we move into the twenty-first century--arguing eloquently that we must place the past at the service of a just future. |
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... democracy and its effects on human life and consciousness . Totalitarianism managed to impose itself because , more than any other political system , it played on people's need for the absolute : it fed their hope to endow life with ...
... Democracy The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombs 228 228 Kosovo : The Political Context 237 Military Intervention 251 Humanitarian Action and the Law 265 The Right to Interfere versus the Obligation to Aid 274 The Achievement of Germaine ...
... Democracies would then slip from justified self - de- fense into what , in this book , I call " the best of intentions " - that is , the claim to be the embodiment of good and the effort to impose it on the world by any means . In fact ...
... democracy and free enterprise . " The U.S. government then claims to be entrusted with the mission of imposing these values over the face of the globe , by force if necessary . If it suc- ceeds in doing so , it believes , it will have ...
... democracy " - that is , the right of every peo- ple to choose its own path , provided that it does no harm to others . Why is the plan to impose good so dangerous ? Assuming that we knew what good was , in order to achieve it we should ...
Alte ediții - Afișează-le pe toate
Hope and Memory: Lessons from the Twentieth Century Tzvetan Todorov,Cvetan Todorov Previzualizare limitată - 2016 |
Hope and Memory: Lessons from the Twentieth Century Tzvetan Todorov Nu există previzualizare disponibilă - 2003 |
Hope and Memory: Reflections on the Twentieth Century Tzvetan Todorov Nu există previzualizare disponibilă - 2005 |
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The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce Deirdre Nansen McCloskey Previzualizare limitată - 2010 |
Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?: The Transformation of Modern Europe James J. Sheehan Nu există previzualizare disponibilă - 2008 |