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Ted Honderich: what Wikipedia removed

A Canadian-British philosopher whose 2002 book examined the morality of terrorism after the September 11 attacks. The 2005 opening said he “has been involved in controversy since the publication of his book After the Terror in 2002 in which Honderich asks why the events of September 11th were wrong.” Today the opening makes no mention of the book or the controversy at all, though the word survives 24 times in the body. A reader arriving now learns only his academic titles and not the controversial argument for which he became known.

The word “terror” appeared 2 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2005. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 24. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word20052010201520206 October 20232025
terror211000

Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.

What was taken out

Section titled “What was taken out”
  • The description of the controversy since publication of his book “After the Terror,” in which he questioned why the September 11 attacks were wrong, dropped from the opening.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2005 (revision 17939394):

Ted Honderich is a Canadian -born British academic philosopher , of Mennonite origin, who moved to London in 1959 to work with Alfred Ayer . His brother Beland Honderich was long-time publisher and trustee of Torstar Corporation which controls the largest circulation daily newspaper in Toronto , the Toronto Star . Since 1972 he has been Reader in Philosophy at University College, London and was Grote Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic from 1988 until his retirement in 1998. He was previously lecturer there, and has also lectured at the University of Sussex , and well as holding visiting lectureships at Yale University and the City University of New York . He is the author of Punis…

2025 (revision 1293809118):

Canadian-British philosopher (1933–2024) Edgar Dawn Ross ” Ted ” Honderich (30 January 1933 – 12 October 2024) was a Canadian-born British philosopher, who was Grote Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic, University College London . ^ Crace, John (22 March 2005). “Ted Honderich: philosophy with attitude” . The Guardian . Retrieved 21 December 2010 .

Section titled “Related”

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