A nation destroyed: an existential approach to the distinctive harm of genocide. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lederman, Shmuel
• Is Part Of: Journal of genocide research. Volume 19:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 112
• Page End: 132
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: Genocide -- Periodicals; 364.15105
• DOI: 10.1080/14623528.2016.1250473
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1462-3528

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In this article, I present a critique of existing approaches to the distinctive harm of genocide and offer an alternative approach. I draw on Hannah Arendt's unique conception of genocide, to suggest an 'existential' account of the harm of genocide. For Arendt, the distinctive loss in genocide was not a moral loss, strictly speaking, but rather an existential loss to humanity. By destroying a nation in whole or in part, genocide robs us of a variety of possible ways of experiencing and understanding the world. This approach, I argue, is original and valuable, and merits further consideration by anyone who is interested in the problem of genocide.