Extremism: a philosophical analysis by Quassim Cassim: a review

Abstract

The first and most important thing that I would say is that I am extremely grateful to the conference organisers, and in particular Dr Rik Peels, for providing me with an opportunity to read the book and to provide some input on some of its topics. I was at once intrigued by the many ways in which different sorts of extremism are characterised in this book, and this continued throughout the book. Examples include the contrast between tactics extremism, ideological extremism, and psychological extremism as a valuable framework for working through ideas that are about the application, techniques, and mindsets concerning those that might interest us as extremists, among other things. These themes are explored in-depth, and the philosophical ramifications of the application in context are discussed for all who are interested in its meaning in practice – and, in some cases, what can be done to alleviate it in working through these conceptualisations. But what is interesting is how there are synergies between all the themes explored. In other words, extremism does not exist in a vacuum – and as argued by Cassam, we are talking about violent extremism here, rather than extremism in general – because not all extremism is violent. And what matters to us as social and philosophical thinkers, as well as those involved in policymaking, is how to deal with the most concerning form of extremism, which is extremism that poses a threat to our national security.