Breach of trust : truth, morality and politics / Raimond Gaita -- Correspondence / John Button, Dennis Glover, David Burchell, Annabel Crabb, Irving Saulwick, Margaret Simons
Summary
Gaita asks essential questions about politics as it is practised today. What do politicians mean when they talk about "trust"? Why is truthfulness important? Are we as politically and morally divided as the Americans? Does the war on terror authorise leaders to do things once considered beyond the pale? Gaita argues for a conception of politics in which morality is not an optional extra. Discussing why politicians must at times be economical with the truth, he shows a way beyond cynicism on the one hand and moralising on the other. Politics, he says, is conceivably a noble vocation, as well as potentially a tragic one. He looks closely at patriotism and its distortion, and the temptation to betray our deepest values in the act of protecting ourselves
Notes
Each issue includes commentary/correspondence on the topic covered the previous issue