Righteous Political Violence and Contemporary Western Intellectuals

Modern political violence has been increasingly preceded or accompanied by elaborate ideological justifications, devised, in part, by intellectuals motivated by their own political beliefs and commitments. Many idealistic intellectuals have been especially sympathetic toward political movements and systems that have promised to carry out far-reaching social transformations. These movements and systems have often relied upon violent means to accomplish their goals. The political partisanship of many Western intellectuals necessitates a revision of their idealized conception. These issues are dealt with in the context of the intellectuals’ attitudes toward Nazism, communism, and present-day Islamic radicalism.