Talk:Ted Honderich

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More information about this article... The following comments have been left for this page: The Ted Honderich article still needs beefing up. There is little discussion of his work as a philosopher, even though he is noted for his writings on the philosophy of mind, on free will and determinism, and on political philosophy. The article seems to concentrate mostly on the brouhaha that was created in the media back in 2002-2003 over his defense of the Palestinian resistance, including his defense of suicide bombings. Even there, this article does little to show if his political positions concerning the Palestinians can, or cannot, be related to his ideas in political philosophy, especially his Principle of Humanity. JimFarm 20:28, 24 August 2006 (UTC) (edit)

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This article is grossly deficient. From it you would have no idea that Honderich ever did anything significant in the philosophy of mind or on the issue of free will, and one gets little notion of Honderich's work in political philosophy. In other words, very little is said about his work as a philosopher or anything else that he ever did before he began showing up in the news in 2002-2003.

NPOV? I don't think so ... Charles Matthews 16:53, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I've replaced the original content by something at least explaining what this is all about (in the external links - which now include something critical of Honderich).

Charles Matthews 20:15, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)

"grossly deficient" continues to apply. At the very least, in order to have some understanding of Honderich's thinking about political violence, you need to discuss his Principle of Humanity. So, the claim above that you've explained "what this is all about" hardly is accurate. What the article should do, even if it focuses exclusively upon political violence or terrorism, is provide greater context. Honderich did not start thinking about political violence in 2001. He frames the question of political violence in terms of the question whether there could be such a thing as terrorism "for humanity"--but you can't discuss that without discussing the Principle of Humanity.

A more informed entry would have to include, at the very minimum, an account of that principle. It might be interesting as an encyclopedia article also to mention how the principle used to have a different name, and why Honderich changed it....

And his thinking includes issues in the philosophy of mind as well as political philosophy, so there too, the article is not exactly informative.

Mark Lovas July 2006

I'd be happy to have a go at filling in some of the blanks. I do know something about Honderich on mind, determinism, political philosophy and the principle of humanity. I do think the entry could be expanded to bring it in line with some other entries on living philosophers. I'll get started, and I'd welcome whatever feedback or advice anyone has for me. I'm a bit new to this. Pottedplant 11:36, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

I've done some research and I'll get going on the entry today. Again, if anyone has advice I'd be grateful. Pottedplant

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