The response that fear of terrorism is rational can be analyzed two ways, a priori (with intuition based on "justified true beliefs") or a posteriori (empirical

The response that fear of terrorism is rational can be analyzed two ways, a priori (with intuition based on "justified true beliefs") or a posteriori (empirically, with risk assessment). The size of the risk and other empirical evidence won't effect the opinion of someone using a priori justifications. An a priori counter argument to supporting the consolidation of state power would be something like the following: Terrorism is a specific type of crime designed to generate fear and disrupt society. Systemic responses disrupt society and generate fear and so is aligned with the goals of terrorists. Therefore, the only logical response is a targeted one which does not disrupt society or generate undue fear among non-terrorists. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/apriori/#WhaPriKno http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/apriori/#WhaPriKno