This book, we are told on the jacket, 'is written in that Platonic tradition which believes that the business of philosophy is not only t o understand the world but t o change it.' It is therefore very different from the now fashionable writings, in which the actions of a person intended t o help others are interpreted solely by the calculus of genetical advantage.
The author's starting point is clearly stated. He writes 'for those who already believe that we should not harm others'; and he tries 'to show just how demanding a principle this is.' But the author's main concern is not with violence in its usual sense of assault with battery, but with 'quiet violence' -causing harm by neglect or omission. The cynic's commandment, thou shalt not kill but needst not strive officiously t o keep alive, is not acceptable t o Dr. Harris.
A concise definition of quiet violence conceals some difficult problems. Gandhi, for example, was especially concerned t o promote a concept of nonviolence in which 'love was an essential ingredient' and which included seeking for truth. Another powerful twentieth century concept of violence and its opposite is represented by Marxist thinkers, who emphasize the violence of society toward the poor and exploited, and the need for a society in which exploitation does not occur.
Dr. Harris gives other instances o f theoretical principles concerning violence which also have practical implications for our day-to-day conduct; and he then provides his own definition: an act of violence occurs when injury or suffering is inflicted upon a person or persons by an agent who knows (or ought reasonably to have known), that his actions would result in the harm in question.
He also quotes part of the entry on 'injury' from the Oxford English Dictionary: