Torture During Interrogation

Interrogation has been used as a way of convicting suspicious criminals of their crimes and eliciting useful information since the medieval period. In addition, there are several methods that detectives and law officials can use to gain the needed information and question efficiently. However, one of the methods that is used is considered to be the most secretive and most intimidating of all: torture. Torture is defined by the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) as an “act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected …show more content…
These four principles help break contradicting opinions down into a more factual and evidence-based structure that can effectively explain the ethics and morality that society has towards certain issues. Each principle states that people have an obligation and a duty towards a certain person. According to Theodore Gracyk, an accomplished author and director of the philosophy department at Minnesota State University, the first principle is known as the principle of respect for autonomy; it states that people have an obligation to respect the decisions that others make concerning their lives and beliefs (“Four Fundamental Ethical Principles”). For example, if a person makes the decision to start exercising in order to lose weight, then others have to respect that decision and interpret it as a means of trying to improve their lifestyle. Another principle is known as the the principle of beneficence and it states that people have an obligation to bring about good in all their actions (Gracyk, “Four Fundamental Ethical Principles”). For example, if a student studies for an exam, then that student is bringing good by being able to understand the concepts that are going to be tested. A third principle states that people have an obligation not to harm others, also known as nonmaleficence (Gracyk,