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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... forces in conflict and to provoke an even more violent response from the adversary , thereby strengthening solidarity among their own peo- ple and eliminating neutrals and moderates . Thus the attacks on America follow a familiar logic ...
... force that had destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan and was locking women up inside their four walls and behind their burkhas . This was not presented as a casus belli , of course , but it made an impact on public opinion and thus made ...
... force within a " legitimate " state . " No cause justifies terror , " the Strategy goes on to assert , and thus there is no such thing as a good terrorist . The assertion may well be valid in itself , but it does not say enough ...
... force but not an indispensible one . This naturally makes other countries nervous , as it is far easier for them to see how the United States might constitute a threat to Iraq than the other way around . These outside observers , more ...
... force equality on them is to treat them as inferior . The means destroy the ends . I spent the first twenty - four years of my life in Bulgaria , a coun- try then under Communist dictatorship and Soviet control . It was an ...
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 |