Torture has been a tool of coercion for nearly all of human history, whether to instill fear in a population or force people to convert, but almost all contemporary attempts to justify the use of torture revolve around torture as a means of extracting information from a victim. Used in this context, torture has a number of prominent advocates, despite the fact that ample historical and experimental evidence suggests that torture is a particularly ineffective way of extracting information (Cole, 2008, p. 375). Despite its inefficacy, torture was a central element of the United States' response to the terrorist attack of September 11th, 2001, and its supporters frequently invoked the image of a high-value target refusing to provide time-sensitive information. egardless of these dramatic scenarios or even the question of torture's efficacy, it is possible to definitively demonstrate that torture is not acceptable under theories of ontological, deontological, utilitarian, or…...
mlaReferences
Angell, J. (2005). Ethics, torture, and marginal memoranda at the DOJ office of legal counsel.
The Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, 18(3), 557-569.
Annas, G.J. (2005). Unspeakably cruel - torture, medical ethics, and the law. The New England
Journal
Torture Debate
Torture Is Unacceptable Under No Circumstances
Argument: torture is unacceptable because it is counterproductive
Argument: torture is unacceptable because it is illegal
Argument: torture is unacceptable because it is immoral
Is Torture Ever Acceptable in Any ay?
Although torture has existed as long as human history, liberal democracies in the last two centuries began to argue against the use of torture in all occasions because they began to see torture as a barbaric practice and morally repugnant. Nevertheless, even liberal democracies have often resorted to torture in practice, especially in times of war. Although as a matter of policy, most democracies have banned torture and have signed international conventions against the practice of torture and cruel punishments, periodic wars and crises force some policy-makers to question the wisdom of banning all kinds of torture. Thus, following the horrific attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, members of the Bush Administration began to…...
mlaWorks Cited
Alvarez, Jose E. "Torturing The Law." Case Western Reserve Journal Of International Law 37.2/3 (2006): 175-223. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
Applebaum, Anne. "The Torture Myth." Washington Post 12 Jan. 2005. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
Banbury, Jen. "Rummy's Scapegoat." Salon 10 Nov. 2005. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
Blumenfeld, Laura. "The Tortured Lives of Interrogators." Washington Post 4 June 2007. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
Torture
The use of non-lethal torture in interrogating possible criminals has always been an area of debate. It wasn't hot topic when the terrorist activities were kept at a down low in the nineties. However, following nine eleven and the surge of terrorists, it became necessary to be aware of the activities they were up to. The major debate lies in the fact that whether a known terrorist should be subjected to non-lethal torture in order to attain information from him. There are questions whether these procedures should be mad into a law and the problems that would surface if it did. The major conclusion is that non-lethal torture would be deemed fit in a case when the person is a known terrorist and is expected to cause chaos and damage. Even through torture is morally wrong, in some cases it might go onto save thousands of people from dying.
Jeremy Bentham…...
mlaReferences
Dershowitz, A. (2002). Should the Ticking Bomb Terrorist be tortured? In: Katherine, M. et al. eds. (2004). Civil liberties vs. national security in a post-9/11 world. 1st ed. Amherst, N.Y: Prometheus Books, pp.pg 189-214.
Drogin, B. And Miller, G. (2001). Spy Agencies facing questions of tactics. Los Angeles Times, October 28.
Langbein, J.H. (1977). Torture and the law of proof: Europe and England in the ancien re-gime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Torture and the Ticking Time-omb
The Definition of Torture
In 1984, the United Nations General Assembly produced an advisory measure known as the United Nations Convention Against Torture. This document specifically addressed torture from the perspective of governments and states, while it also focuses on the use of torture by any individual acting in an official capacity for said state or government. The document also addressed other forms of 'cruel and inhumane treatment'. Two other aspects of this convention are important: any government or state is forbidden to extradite individuals to a nation where it is reasonably possible that they might be tortured, and governments or states are required to act in an effective manner to halt and/or block the use of torture within their country. Evidence obtained from the use of torture is also forbidden from being used in any legal proceedings and/or courts.
The definition of torture specifically excludes actions involved…...
mlaBibliography
Dershowitz, A. (2002). Fourth road. Chapter 15 (pp.189-214) in Darmer, ed.
Allhoff, F. (2005) A Defense of Torture, International Journal of Applied Philosophy (2005):246. Retrieved from: http://www.cesl.edu.cn/upload/201209206165923.pdf
Dershowitz, A. (n.d.). Tortured Reasoning. Retrieved from: http://www-tc.pbs.org/inthebalance/pdf/dershowitz-tortured-reasoning.pdf
Dershowitz, A.M. (2002) "Why Terrorism Works: Understand the Threat, Responding to the Challenge," Yale University Press. Retrieved from: http://www.spr.tcdlife.ie/seperatearticles/xixarticles/reviewtorture.pdf
However, in truth, such incidences are rare and hence based on this pretext there is every danger that torture might become an administrative practice. There is every possibility that torture might become a systemic abuse tool. Thus only if morally permissible conditions prevail can torture be pursued. Another popular perspective is that bringing torture under a legal prism would make it a more effective tool as officials would only recourse to torture if the case seems really justified. If torture is accountable, then it becomes more justified. [Henry Shue] However, as John Conroy writes, 'Throughout the world torturers are rarely punished, and when they are, the punishment rarely corresponds to the severity of the crime' [Sanford Levinson, pg 9]
The article by Kenneth Roth, the executive director of the Human Rights Watch clearly supports the view of the Sanford Levinson and Henry Shue by illustrating the gross abuse of torture.…...
mlaBibliography
1) Henry Shue, 'Torture', Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol 7, no 2, Winter, 1978 124 -- 143
2) Kenneth Roth, 'Getting Away with Torture', Global Governance 11(2005) 389-406
3) Sanford Levinson, 'The Debate on Torture', Dissent Summer 2003.
4) Henry Shue & Richard Weisberg, 'Responses to the Debate on Torture', (Accessed Mar 23rd 2010.)http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=491
These logistical problems are only one source of error in Levin's argument, however. The idea of establishing guilt with certainty before using torture fits the utilitarian ethic; it ensures that any reduction in happiness or good to the terrorist is more than compensated for by the increased happiness in the terrorist's would-be victims. The other part of Levin's argument, that torture should only be used as a preventative and not a punitive measure, also fits into utilitarianism. Punishment and confession to past acts does not create nearly enough happiness or good to make up for the pain caused by torture. But these two conditions for the use of torture -- that it is practiced with complete certainty of guilt and that it is solely preventative -- cannot logically coexist. In order for guilt of a terrorist to be certain, the act of evil has to have already been committed, which…...
The dilemma lies herein: neither of the two approaches is entirely wrong.
The former, seemingly more humane, also seems impractical considering the fact that the overall dangers that hover the world today in the form of weaponry available and tactics designed are far advanced and devastating than anything else that has been witnessed in history. Its impracticality lies in its overlooking the gravity of an attack and in how torture at the right time and towards the right link could prove to be the difference between mass destruction and liberty. The fact is that this idea cannot stand firm for long in the face of the dangers and perils that can be caused today.
The latter approach, seemingly harsh, also seems ignorant of the fact that terrorism or war is not restricted to any race, religion or nation. Since the beginning of time, every nation has looked for supremacy in the world…...
mlaReferences:
Corrado, Raymond R., and Cohen, Irwin M. State Torture in the Contemporary World. International Journal of Comparative Sociology. Volume: 46: 1-2. 2005. 103.
Krauthammer, Charles., the Truth about Torture-it's time to be honest about doing terrible things. The Weekly Standard. 11. 12. 2005.
McCain, John. Torture's Terrible Toll. Newsweek. 2005.
Torture -
The Spanish Inquisition, on the other hand, was meant to discourage heresy, but in the end was simply the murder of many innocent people. During Medieval times, torture was used as a form of public punishment and, most dreadfully, as not only a deterrent, but also as entertainment.
3. Torture is absolutely immoral. No conditions or circumstances would ever justify such terrible actions towards a person's fellow human beings. No crime or offense merits the terror, pain and humiliation inflicted upon a human being. No purpose is high or important enough to justify such actions. Along with the rest of the civilized world, I most strongly condemn this form of punishment. While the focus here is torture today, I am particularly horrified by the concept of torture as entertainment. It is the deliberate infliction of severe and unbearable pain upon another human being for the entertainment of others. It cannot…...
Sung accomplishes the refutation by the simple means of refusing to allow Dershowitz to stand on his assumptions of what permits so radical a circumstance. For example, Sung directly addresses Dershowitz's claim that terrorists are not implicitly owed protection of human dignity rights by virtue of their activities. Dershowitz does make a compelling argument for this but, as Sung points out, he is not actually enabled to take such a position because the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments have already made that decision (Sung 202). Due process is built into the law to protect all, and deliberately so; Sung implies, in fact, that the protections are likely in place to avert just such extreme eventualities. Then, Sung challenges the use of judicial warrants as an inherently contrary action, aside from the fundamental illegality. To legally warrant torture is, in Sung's view, to "legitimize" the practice, and this is clearly a…...
mlaWorks Cited
Sung, C. "Torturing the Ticking Bomb Terrorist: An Analysis of Judicially Sanctioned Torture in the Context of Terrorism." Boston College Third World law Journal 23:1 (2003): 193-212.
Print.
Dershowitz, A. "The Torture Warrant: A Response to Professor Strauss." New York Law School
Review 48 (2003): 275-294. Print.
Even for the crime of murder (without torture), the infliction of many tortures are worse than the crime. The moral justification for executing a murderer is much more obvious than the infliction of any punishment that is even worse from the perspective of the murder. Torture may be appropriate with regard to specific crimes of torture, but that requires civil society to stoop to the level of barbarity of criminals.
Investigative: On its face, torture would seem to have a valid tactical use in criminal investigations. In the U.S. It is strictly prohibited under constitutional principals, but purely practical issues also suggest that even aside from any moral basis of objection, torture may not be as useful in practice. Specifically, innocent individuals under torture (or even the threat of torture) often provide false information to spare themselves. ecent experiences with individuals questioned under questionable conditions approaching torture in connection with…...
mlaReferences
Dershowitz, a. (2002) Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge. New Haven: Yale University Press
Dyer, C., McCoy, R., Rodriguez, J., Van Duyn, D. (2007) Countering Violent Islamic Extremism. The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin; Vol. 76 No. 12. Retrieved August 8, 2008, at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2194/is_12_76/ai_n27479545
Gerrig, R., Zimbardo, P. (2005)
Psychology and Life 18th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
" The point of bringing this up is, this is an age of violence in the world and throughout the entertainment industry, and so it is not surprising to hear ashington politicians rationalize, backtrack, dip into semantics and find euphemisms that work well when it comes to issues of torture.
A very well-known philosopher - the late Elizabeth Anscombe - stood up and was counted when it came to ethics and human rights. In 1956, Anscombe took offense to the suggestion that Oxford University should bestow an honorary degree on President Harry Truman. She along with others "opposed this because of his responsibility for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" (O'Grady 2001). Although Anscombe and her colleagues were voted down by others at Oxford, "they forced a vote, instead of the customary automatic rubber-stamping of the proposal."
Anscombe wrote, "For men to choose to kill the innocent as a means to their…...
mlaWorks Cited
Dryer, Alexander Barnes. "The Truth About Torture." The Atlantic. Retrieved February 25, 2008 at http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200309u/int2003-09-11 .
O'Grady, Jane. "Elizabeth Anscombe." Guardian. Retrieved February 25, 2008, at http://www.guardian.co.uk .
Shane, Scott. "Torture justification memos under ethical review." The Mercury-News.
Retrieved February 26, 2008, at http://www.mercurynews.com .(2008).
These responsibilities notwithstanding, the American public was already being conditioned to view the war in Iraq as a battle against extremists, that is, against the Islamist radicals who had threatened the "American" way" of life on September 11, 2001. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson had already inflamed America's own Christian fundamentalists with talk that the terrible events of that day were to blame in part on "the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle... I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.'"
That such intolerance was not unique to America, "champion" of liberty, can be seen in many nations around the world. Homosexuality is condemned by Muslim fundamentalists as much as by their Christian fundamentalist counterparts. Yet, Saddam Hussein's Iraq was reasonably tolerant of "discreet" gay and lesbian relationships.
It was only with the emergence of radical Islamic fundamentalism…...
mlaWorks Cited
Gay.com Newscenter Staff. "Center Examines LGBT Military Deaths." 365 Gay.com, (9 April 2008) http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/04/040908mil.htm.
A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5022150099
Apel, Dora. "Torture Culture: Lynching Photographs and the Images of Abu Ghraib." Art Journal 64.2 (2005): 88+.
A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5009058509
First, torture is likely to elicit false confessions. This is true; torture is likely to illicit false confessions and false information. Apply enough physical pain to a person and one is likely to get false information. The Inquisition established that people will admit to things that are impossible (being werewolves or witches) in order to put a stop to physical pain. Therefore, while torture should be used to gain information, information elicited by torture should not be used in prosecutions. In the United States, the Fifth Amendment protects people from involuntary self-incrimination, a protection that has been construed as a means of preventing police brutality to elicit false confessions. There is nothing incompatible with the idea of allowing the state to use torture to elicit emergency information but not allowing the state to use that information in a criminal trial. The impetus behind the use of torture is to…...
196). While the reader does not want to admit this could happen in the United States, after reading this book it does not seem so far-fetched, and that is a frightening, even unspeakable conclusion. The fact that the government condones these torture techniques is bad enough. The situation at Guantanamo Bay underscores how deeply the government has delved into torture and other forms of detention that fly in the face of human rights and what is right and wrong. Many Americans may turn their backs on these practices, saying they are "necessary" for the time, but they are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to losing human rights and our own personal freedoms. There is little difference between the torture techniques the CIA is using around the world, and many of the tactics the Soviets and many other dictatorships have used throughout the years. The regime…...
mlaJones, T. (2006). Hicks 'severely damaged', says CIA expert. Retrieves 21 July 2008 from the Information Clearinghouse Web site: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13597.htm.
McCoy, a.W. (2006). A question of torture: CIA interrogation from the Cold War to the War on Terror. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Wolff, B. (2006). Author explores CIA connections to torture tactics. Retrieved 21 July 2008 from the University of Wisconsin Web site: http://www.news.wisc.edu/11995 .
Torture an Animal?
While many people believe that animal testing is inhumane, many others see it as an important part of preserving human life. In my opinion, animal testing, due to the harsh nature of the process, should only be conducted if it is necessary to advance science and technology that may help save lives.
If I were working in a research lab and was involved in the development of a revolutionary skin graft that would save lives, I would definitely support animal testing for the product. In this case, animal testing would be a necessary process in testing the effects of the new development.
Without animal testing, this development would not be approved by the government. As a result, millions of lives would be affected, especially those of accident victims that may be saved by the skin graft.
While I am against torturing animals to test products like lipstick and shampoo, I…...
To write a good thesis about this, you have to first put together what you know about early America and its approach to religion. Obviously, the American colonies were initially established, in part, as a way for people to freely practice certain religions. That said, they were extremely restrictive, with punishments for people who did not adhere to societal norms. Many undesirable behaviors were not just considered undesirable, but labeled as sin. The most dramatic example of this could be found in the witch hysteria that overtook some of the colonies and the executions and general destruction that happened surrounding....
There are a number of fantastic slave narratives that really describe the experiences of people in slavery. However, there is a problem with most of these narratives. Written by former slaves, these narratives are going to represent a rarity among slaves because their authors could read and write, while teaching a slave to read or write was punishable under many slave codes. Therefore, we strongly suggest looking at a more comprehensive collection of slave narratives. Fortunately, the Works Progress Administration compiled slave narratives under a few different programs, most notably the Federal Writer’s Project. ....
In an essay, an attention grabber is known as the essay hook. To help you out on your world civilization essay, we have put together a few topics, essay hooks, and thesis statements you could use for a world civilization essay.
World Civilization Essay Topics
Serial killers are a topic that has fascinated people, beginning before the term was even coined. They have been romanticized in pop culture, but their crimes seem to be rooted in a personality disorder that keeps them from empathizing with others. They kill in a variety of ways and, when left unchecked, the number of people that they can kill can get into the 100s.
Some subtopics to consider when writing about serial killers for your essay topic are:
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