The Contract of Mutual Indifference: Political Philosophy after the Holocaust

By Norman Geras

Book Overview

A powerful work of moral and political philosophy.The idea which I shall present here came to me more or less out of the blue. I was on a train some five years ago, on my way to spend a day at Headingley and I was reading a book about the death camp at Sobibor... The particular, not very appropriate, conjunction involved for me in this train journey... had the effect of fixing my thoughts on one of the more dreadful features of human coexistence, when in the shape of a simple five-word phrase the idea occurred to me. In The Contract of Mutual Indifference, Norman Geras discusses a central aspect of the experience of the Holocaust with a view to exploring its most important contemporary implications. In a bold and powerful synthesis of memorial, literary record, historical reflection and political theory, he focuses on the figure of the bystander--the bystander to the destruction of the Jews of Europe and the bystander to more recent atrocities--to consider the moral consequences of looking on without active response at persecution and great suffering. Geras argues that the tragedy of European Jewry, so widely pondered by historians, social scientists, psychologists, theologians and others, has not yet found its proper reflection within political philosophy. Attempting to fill the gap, he adapts an old idea from within that tradition of enquiry, the idea of the social contract, to the task of thinking about the triangular relation between perpetrators, victims and bystanders, and draws a somber conclusion from it. Geras goes on to ask how far this conclusion may be offset by the hypothesis of a universal duty to bring aid. The Contract of Mutual Indifference is an original and challenging work, aimed at the complacent abstraction of much contemporary theory. It is supplemented by three shorter essays on the implications of the Jewish catastrophe for conceptions of human nature and progress and for certain types of Marxist explanation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1859842291
• ISBN13: 9781859842294
• Release Date: August 1999
• Publisher: Verso
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

What comes to one must come to us all

The Contract Of Mutual Indifference explores the phenomenon of the Passive Bystander with reference to the Holocaust and atrocities like those in Bosnia. Geras discusses a phenomenon that reveals mankind's remarkable ability to enjoy life while ignoring the suffering of others. He observes that the road to Auschwitz was built by hate but paved with indifference. The book becomes an investigation of the moral consequences of ignoring oppression and persecution. But it's not all abstract theory. What makes the work so readable is its compelling blend of historical analysis, human nature and philosophy. The author argues convincingly that the tragedy of the Shoah has not yet been adequately dealt with in the field of political theory. There is no denying the reality of the contract in the title of the book. In the past 15 years the world has witnessed atrocities of genocidal intent in Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo, Rwanda and Darfur, for example. In addition, there are ongoing crimes like the modern version of slavery, the practice of torture and child labour. There does seem to be reluctance to face up to evils like these, in political philosophy and in society as a whole. The picture that Geras gives us of the relation between perpetrator, victim and bystander is not a pretty one. He considers many angles of the phenomenon, including the human survival mechanism of blocking out unbearable thoughts. And its opposite also exists: the concept of a universal duty to help others beyond one's immediate friends and family. C S Lewis touches on this aspect of human nature in his classic Mere Christianity. The book does not fall into the trap of arguing for collectivism as a remedy for the contract of indifference. Very appropriately too, since the atomistic lifestyle is found as much in European welfare states as in capitalist economies. A case might indeed be made that the welfare state encourages atomism since it relieves the individual of personal responsibility towards others. Paying tax as substitute for charity. On the negative side, Geras assumes that everybody is burdened with unrestricted moral liability and if we indulge in the pleasures of life whilst ignoring brutality, we are all as morally culpable as the Europeans who ignored the plight of the Jews. The idea has merit, but there are different degrees of responsibility and culpability that are not properly identified or distinguished in the text. On the other hand, there does seem to be a widespread move towards nihilism globally (read Andr Glucksmann), and hedonism & narcissism, especially in the West. The lack of real compassion for the suffering of others is often disguised with political correctness and blaming the scapegoats America and Israel for all the world's woes. This moral inversion is particularly prevalent amongst the entertainment and media elites. A thorough historical study is needed to compare the Left and isolationst Right's shrill reaction to the liberation of Iraq