The concept of a torture warrant has primarily been offered by Alan Dershowitz, with an ex ante authorisation of the practice via judicial channels. Sitemap. 2 Nov. 2009. The ethical divide that seems to be opening up here suggests that those who are willing to drop bombs might want to abduct the nearest and dearest of suspected terrorists--their wives, mothers, and daughters--and torture them as well, assuming anything profitable to our side might come of it. And it will remain unavoidable for the foreseeable future. Can torture ever be justify? Throughout this author’s time in research and study, there has yet been a reported case found of which a real life scenario of a “ticking bomb” incident has actually occurred. When people start to violates the god-given rights of human beings, where will it stop? Now let me make clear what I mean. [1] Yet abundant evidence indicates that it does, directly or by proxy—and in fact always has. If our intuition about the wrongness of torture is born of an aversion to how people generally behave while being tortured, we should note that this particular infelicity could be circumvented pharmacologically, because paralytic drugs make it unnecessary for screaming ever to be heard or writhing seen. NOTE: Please see my most recent thoughts on this and other controversial subjects here. My contention is that while Kantian ethics does not support a variety of moral absolutism about torture, it does suggest a strong version of legal absolutism. We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. The bomb has been ticking ever since September 11th, 2001. Fifteen experienced former investigators came up with that statement. This anti-torture argument, in fact, works by positing that human knowledge has intrinsic limits. One could argue the arguments for and against utilitarianism. While we hold the moral high ground in our war on terror, we appear to hold it less and less. “The Church Can Help Survivors of Torture.” News Network 26.1 (2006): 14+. Almost every dictionary gives two definitions of torture: a narrow one… inflicting great pain. I invite any reader who discovers a problem with my argument to point it out to me in the comment section of this blog. Consequentialist/utilitarians argue that a moral cost-benefit analysis needs to be made, pitting the suffering of the one terrorist under torture against the suffering of so many innocent civilians if the terrorist bomb were to explode. by Bernard Chazelle . The only way to rule out collateral damage would be to refuse to fight wars under any circumstances. The philosopher Jonathan Glover points out that "in modern war, what is most shocking is a poor guide to what is most harmful." 2007. According to Michael Levin’s article, “The Case for Torture,” his view on torture is that there are many situations in which torture would be against the law but would be obligatory for someone’s conscious. If you need this or any other sample, we can send it to you via email. Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter. Many of their arguments only work in very specific situations that may never happen. Congress's definition of torture in those laws - the infliction of severe mental or physical pain - leaves room for interrogation methods that go beyond polite conversation. References. Conclusion. Clearly, the consequences of one person's uncooperativeness can be made so grave, and his malevolence and culpability so transparent, as to stir even a self-hating moral relativist from his dogmatic slumbers. Many in favor of torture tactics believe that it is necessary to use torture to extract information from a subject. 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