Terrorism In his article “Terrorism,” Michael Walzer describes terrorism as the indiscriminate murder of innocent people. He goes on to explain that terrorists have the objective of destroying the morale of a nation and instilling fear within a society by not targeting a specific group of people, but rather, targeting the population as a whole and killing “random” people. Walzer and many like-minded philosophers share the view that terrorism is wrong and is not justified under any circumstances; thus rendering it akin to murder. The preceding view is referred to as the “the dominant view,” as labeled by Lionel K. McPherson, because it is common to a great deal of people – many of who are not philosophers. McPherson attempts to …show more content…

The harsh brutality of terrorism leads me to believe that a terrorist’s indiscriminate killings are completely unjustifiable. As Walzer explains, “The names and occupations of the dead are not known in advance; they are killed simply to deliver a message of fear to others like themselves[4].” It is undeniable that terrorism results in massive amounts of fear and casualties, so, by no means should it be accepted as a moral solution to political disputes, nor should it be considered a positive alternative to modern warfare. Walzer does a very good job of describing the many ways that would lead one to believe that terrorism is not morally justifiable under any circumstances.

The Meaning of Life In his article, “The Meaning of Life,” Richard Taylor introduces the reader to the myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus had revealed divine secrets to mortals and as a result was condemned to a life that consisted of him rolling a stone up and down hills until the end of time. Taylor explains that the most common interpretation of this ancient myth is that it “symbolizes our eternal struggle and unquenchable spirit, our determination always to try once more in the face of overwhelming discouragement[5].” He goes on to explain that the activities that we perform in our daily lives are given