“This book is an impressive sample of applied philosophy. … The book basically is a philosophical attempt to give the reader an almost ‘metamoral awareness about (the) inherent violent nature of the ‘human condition’ … . the central theme of this philosophical study points at a multitude of urgent, highly problematic contemporary issues, and since violence as a structural dimension of life is an understudied theme in (moral) philosophy, let’s read, study and discuss this important, thought provoking work!” (Anton van Harskamp, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Vol. 16, September, 2013)

“Magnani’s book is a broad and deep meditation on the theme of violence. … the theoretical and methodological problem lies … to raise this issue to the status of an independent, chiefly philosophical subject. This requires a strategic twofold move: on the one hand, one needs a strong and comprehensive philosophical hypothesis about violence; on the other, it is necessary to bring … the fragmentation of analyses consecrated to the issue of violence—and this result is achieved precisely thanks to a comprehensive philosophical hypothesis.” (Massimo Durante, Mind & Society, March, 2013)

“Understanding Violence is able to bring all of this home to the reader with such inspired clarity is certain testimony to its potential for everyday application. … Understanding Violence is a valuable contribution not only to the literature on the subject of violence, but to the possibility of a future with less of it, a shared future forged in mutual understanding rather than Hobbesian force. For anyone invested in engineering such a world, Understanding Violence is necessary reading.” (Jeffrey Benjamin White, Biosemiotics, April, 2012)

“The best word to describe this book is “evoking”, a book that expressly aims at elevating violence, every kind of violence, to the status of a true philosophical and moral category … . Magnani’s book tackles several fronts with great intellectual determination, each of them as complex as fascinating. … This book vindicates the intellectual importance of the topic of violence and claims it back into the feud of philosophy. This will surely lead us - at least in the mid-term - to unexplored ontological and epistemological grounds.” (Translated from Spanish: Valeria Isegoria in Revista de Filosofía Moral y Política N.º 46, enero-junio, 2012)

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 2013; 16:1089–1092. Anton van Harskamp Book Review: Lorenzo Magnani, Understanding Violence. The Intertwining of Morality, Religion and Violence: A Philosophical Stance, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg, 2011.

Mind and Society, 2013, 12(2):257-262. Massimo Durante, Book Review: Lorenzo Magnani, Understanding Violence. The Intertwining of Morality, Religion and Violence: A Philosophical Stance, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg, 2011.

Frontiere (Facoltà Teologica Pugliese), Mario Castellana, Review of the Italian edition (Filosofia della violenza, Il Melangolo, Genoa, 2012, translated by T. Bertolotti) of Understanding Violence: The Intertwining of Morality, Religion and Violence: A Philosophical Stance. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, x, 2013, xxx-xxx, forthcoming.

Biosemiotics, 5, 2012, 439-444. Jeffrey Benjamin White, Reflections on Understanding Violence, Lorenzo Magnani: Understanding Violence: The Intertwining of Morality, Religion and Violence: A Philosophical Stance. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2011.

Isegoría. Revista de Filosofía Moral y Política, 46 (2012) pp. 303-306. Natalia Fernández Díaz, La violencia como objeto epistemológico y como debate inacabado, Review of Understanding Violence: The Intertwining of Morality, Religion and Violence: A Philosophical Stance. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2011.