Ethical Use Of Torture Essay

Improved Essays
How do you determine if and when the use of torture would be ethical?
Let’s begin by examining the views of two well-known philosophers John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant. Each of these philosophers had strong opinions and stances on the moral and ethical use of torture.
John Stuart Mills’ theory on the ethical of the use of torture is that it is acceptable if it brings happiness and/or pleasure to the majority of people than if the torture were not carried out. One example he gives to support that theory is, if a terrorist has information that will prevent an act of terror that would result in the death of hundreds of innocent people and by obtaining this information thru an act of torture, it would likely save those lives he would agree
…show more content…
They illustrate this point when they state in the transcript “the difference is that decent, civilized human beings will not under any circumstances torture or order torture”. (Cite this)

In the Alan Dershowitzs’ transcript Rules should Govern Torture he states an opposing view that torture is an inevitability of today’s world. In his opinion torture is never acceptable. However, he believes that torture will always be used, but no one will admit to committing it. Therefore, he stated it should be governed by the law and sanctioned by the President of the United States and Congress.
If it is governed by the law, then whoever carries out the act of torture needs to be held accountable.
Let’s compare each of the different viewpoints. We’ll start by comparing John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant, Mill would support an act of torture if it would bring happiness to the majority of people that would be impacted if it were carried out and saved lives. Whereas Kant’s view on torture is more rigid, his belief emphasized the importance of basing any act of torture on the morality of it. He would say the decision to commit an act of torture should be made without emotion and with moral

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Summary: The Term Torture

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The term “Torture” derives from the Latin word “tortus” meaning “twisted. Torture involves the intentional infliction of physical or mental pain on a person to fulfill some desire of the perpetrator or to compel some action from the victim. The following are some general definitions of torture. 1. Torture is the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    His views were very similar to Michael Levin, in the case that he felt if torture was necessary it should happen. The difference between Dershowitz and Levin was that Dershowitz felt like there should be a legal document in place in the ticking time bomb situation. His solution to torture is to have someone with high authority make the decision, whether to torture someone or not. My question as a reader is, does immunity validate torture for the soldiers that are distributing it?…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the same time the opponents of these methods were convinced that one individual could not be an organizer of so many terrorist plots and revealed their skepticism in relation to his claims. They stated that taking into consideration the types of tortures, which could be applied to an individual, there is never a guarantee that his confessions are true to life and were not made purely with the aim to stop tortures and remain alive. This argument makes everybody doubt as for effectiveness of tortures. “For instance, a torture victim deprived of his clothes will feel so “ashamed and humiliated and cold,” said retired FBI counterterrorism agent Dan Coleman, “he 'll tell you anything you want to hear to get his clothing back. There 's no value in it.”…

    • 1037 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Torture Vs Torture

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Unfortunately, however, different forms of inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment as well as torture are practised in all parts of the world, including highly industrialised and developed countries. Despite the fact that society is evolving, the effect of torture remains the same: such violations of human rights result in serious harm to the human being, to his physical and mental immunity, and requires a lot of effort to make it stop. Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) says: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” . For many years international legal institutions have been developing, improving and consolidating different ways of resolving the problem. At…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introducing the author Daniel J. Hill, he made good points on views of torture on how it could be permissible and not permissible. He introduced different scenarios on how to look at torture and was very interesting. One view he gave was a “defense case” that expressed that the officer spots a terrorist who plans to detonate a bomb that could risk lives of many. The officer made the choice to tase the terrorist just enough to paralyze him from making the bomb go off. Another case was the “interrogation case” that speaks about a terrorist planting a bomb somewhere and security services using electric shocks to get the terrorist to speak on the whereabouts of the bomb.…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What Is Wrong To Torture

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Desperate Times Would you ever hurt someone? What if hurting that someone meant that you would be seen as a hero amongst many? What if hurting someone meant that you were able to save innocent lives? What if hurting someone meant that you lost a piece of yourself and what it means to be human? `The topic at hand is if it is ever justifiable to torture someone under any circumstance.…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Torture Debate Analysis

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages

    After reading this article, I believe that the author had provided enough evidence on whether or not torture would be beneficial or if it would lead to a slippery slope tragedy that would go against what they were trying to accomplish. In essence, I believe that having a torture system would only have a negative outcome and Liberal democracies should refrain from using such systems since preventing massive global issues could be more important than killing potential terrorists to protect innocent residents. Throughout the text presented the main idea…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is more to the subject of torture than what meets the eye or ear of American citizens. An issue that appears morally unjustifiable may become attractive and necessary in extreme and time clenching cases. How does one maintain their moral stature while advocating the physical and mental degradation of another human being? How can America uphold its standards promoting life, liberty, and happiness while stripping humans of every essence of these words in the cruelest of ways? To delve deeper into the subject of torture means to reveal the callous and cruel acts human beings are capable of when intelligence information is demanded.…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jessica Wolfendale discusses what permitting torture would involve realistically in her work Training Torturers: A Critique of the “Ticking Bomb” Argument. The hypothetical ticking bomb argument fails to distinguish a justification of the general practice and individual instances of torture. She refers to the discussion as “a new war in which moral constraints do not apply”, for to allow torture is to allow the training of torturers. Historically they have been chosen for obedience, trustworthiness, political beliefs, and endurance of pain. Torturers would have to be trained in interrogational torture.…

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since the article “The Case for Torture” by Michael Levin was published in Newsweek in 1982, it has stirred up many debates regarding the universal use of torture. Levin believes that torture is justifiable in extreme cases such as preventing terrorism to save lives. Levin argues by giving examples of make-believe scenarios in which the only two options given are to either meet the demands of the terrorist or to torture the terrorist so that innocent lives can be spared; however, Levin’s argument is flawed because he never fully defines the boundaries which can be placed on the concept of torture that would ensure that the use of torture is not abused. He believes that the best way to address a problem in which one wants an immediate result…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his article “A Case for Torture,” Michael Levin creates a faulty argument for torture by disregarding the issue of the legality of torture. Levin’s article is in response to the publication of a shocking report by the Senate’s Intelligence Committee. The extensive report reveals the details of torture on suspected terrorists conducted by officials of the Central Intelligence Committee (CIA) and members of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). In his article, Levin attempts to defend the individuals and agencies through the use of pathos and other such rhetoric devices, but he has failed to discuss the legality of the act nor did he discuss the hypocritical nature of the scandal.…

    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many societies use torture as way of extracting information from people who will not easily give up much needed information. Torture is a topic of controversy in our world and has been for years now. Although torture may work in some instances, studies repeatedly show over and over that it is not effective. Oftentimes, people will say anything and even provide incorrect information to stop the suffering. I have analyzed opinion articles such as Torture is Morally Reprehensible by Kim Petersen and Torture is Never Justified by Nikki Burgess.…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Levin’s hypothetical leads to the illogical “A Case For Torture” is an essay written by Michael Levin in which he tries to make a compelling case for the use of torture as a punishment during certain situations in the United States. One of the ways Levin tries to logically prove his argument is by citing different real life situations; some examples are situations that actually occurred, but most are hypothetical situations. The use of hypothetical situations is meant to help direct the reader to understand the applications of Levin’s policy on torture. With that, Levin is not convincing in his argument as he relies too heavily on the hypothetical. Michael Levin in “A Case For Torture” is not logically convincing in his discussion as to why…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Torture is an act that has been around since the early days of man. Torture is defined by Webster Dictionary as “ the act of causing severe physical pain as a form of punishment or as a way to force someone to do or say something”. Torture is simply a layman term for enhanced interrogation techniques. This means that when someone is “interrogated” the prisoner is being forced to say something that they may not have said if not otherwise forced. In other words it is extremely easy for this system of gathering information to not work properly.…

    • 1465 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why Torture Is Wrong

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Anything that is done to the terrorist being tortured will never compare to what they have done to others. It allows officials to obtain information in a timely fashion, and sometimes more information then what was asked for is given. This is very useful because officials don’t always know what specific questions to ask, the information that has been obtained can be used for a variety of purposes that will help keep innocent civilians safe. Many argue that terrorists deserve to be punished, they have heartlessly executed and murdered in cold blood a countless number of innocent…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays