ABSTRACT
So what is it that backs up moral intuitions such as that which tells us that the polis is morally better than violence and that statements to this effect are true and compelling? There is a good deal of overlap between how the two might be evaluated: in the most practical and down-to-earth terms, the terrorist and the democrat might well share moral beliefs and aims. Hence the intuition, which I think fair to ascribe to most, that there is a substantial moral difference between them is not as easy to substantiate as one might think it to be at first glance. We can’t easily say that terrorists are bad people and democrats are good people and then stand by our judgement without due diligence as to what a term such as ‘good’ might mean and to what grants accuracy in its application. If it is true that terrorism is wrong and democratic politics is not (as) wrong, we still have to find some basis for this thought.
