Books By Richard Bell Resonate with International Audiences

Publications from the past five years being used as texts in classrooms in the U.S. and abroad

Richard Bell

WOOSTER, Ohio - Richard Bell's lifelong crusade to advance a more compassionate form of justice is resonating with readers across the country and around the world. His most recent book, Rethinking Justice: Restoring Our Humanity, which was published in 2007, is getting rave reviews from critics, who have labeled it as "Highly Recommended" for library research collections as well as graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses.

Bell's book is based on the premise that retributive justice does little more than avenge and punish, which only perpetuates a relentless cycle of violence. Instead, Bell calls for a more restorative approach that relies on empathy, love, and forgiveness. His conclusions are based, in part, on his extensive study of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's effective response to apartheid in South Africa, which stressed mercy over retribution.

M.S. Rodriguez of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey wrote that Bell "argues quite persuasively that a rights-based conception of justice is intrinsically deficient because it decouples the rights of self-regarding individuals from any prior moral obligations they owe each other."

Bell's latest book is not the only one drawing attention. His 2003 publication, African Philosophy: A Cross Cultural Approach, is being used as a text in colleges and universities in the United States and Africa, as well as in Europe. In fact, he recently attended a lecture at John Carroll University in which the featured speaker, Godfrey Igwebuiki Onah, was using Bell's book at Pontificia Univerita Urbaniana in Vatican City. Following the lecture, Bell introduced himself to Onah, who was both surprised and delighted to meet the author of the book he so highly valued.

Since retiring from his post as the Frank Halliday Ferris Professor of Philosophy at The College of Wooster in 2004, Bell has continued to follow developments related to issues of justice and reconciliation, particularly in Africa. This fall, he will return to the classroom to teach a course in African philosophy, much to the delight of Wooster students and members of the community who have thought about auditing his class.