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Is torture morally right
Why torture is morally wrong
The morality of torture
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In this scenario there is substantial moral justification for torture. Consider this: law enforcement believes that torturing the target will save thousands of innocents; law enforcement knows of no other way to save those lives; loss of life is imminent; the lives about to be lost are innocent; the target has no good reason to murder the victims; the target is known to be morally responsible for planning and arming the device and if it explodes, that individual will be responsible for the murder of thousands. The target is liable on two aspects. First, the target is causing law enforcement to make a choice between two evils, torturing the target or allowing innocents to die. Were the target to do what people consider the right thing and disclose the location of the bomb, law enforcement would not have to pursue interrogation techniques. Second, the target is engaged in completing his purpose which is to murder thousands of innocents. In this environment laid out, torture is both unlawful and unusual and if law enforcement officials tortured the target they would be tried for a crime...
Torture can be defined as the “intentional infliction of physical and mental suffering aimed at forcing someone who is defenceless at the purpose of breaking their will” (Rodley, 2000). It is important to note, that if a person has been tortured, even if their mental will has not been broken, the process and the purpose of torture is to break the victims will. Thus, the purpose does not have to be realised for the process to be considered an instance of torture. With that being said, under international
Prison Experiment consisted of students who were assigned to the roles of either prisoners or guards for a period of six days (Haney, C., Banks, W. C., & Zimbardo, P. G., 1973). This study alone, demonstrates the power of authority, conformity, moral justification, and various other phenomenons seen in Abu Ghraib. In the Stanford Prison Experiments, both prisoners and guards, conformed to their roles and as such guards began to dehumanize the prisoners, a theory attributed to the dehumanization is the
Torture is prohibited in any circumstances under international law. Despite this, torture undeniably continues around the world and is often said to be justified in extreme situations such as the ‘ticking time bomb situation’. This case involves a circumstance where in order to prevent a future catastrophe from occurring, torture of a suspect is necessary in order to obtain information. Those who agree with this ideology argue that torture is still wrong however resorting to torture is the lesser
Conclusion to the Debate on Torture After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the fear of another catastrophic event in the United States became a greater concern for the American public. To subdue the growing fear amongst the public, political officials across America were compelled to address new debates on the nation’s tactics to prevent another atrocity. Possibly the most heated, and still argued debate, is that of the appropriateness of the employment of torture to acquire necessary intelligence;
a metaphor, he compares torture to ichneumon larva. “The ancient English penalty for treason— drawing and quartering, with its explicit object of extracting as much torment
Justified Torture Chance Adams 10/8/2015 Is torture ever justifiable? At a mere glance the answer to this question may seem an easy question of morally. However it is my assertion that torture, although morally reprehensible, can be justified under extreme circumstances, but only when all other options have been exhausted. Before answering the question of whether or not torture can be justified, we need a better understanding of what torture is. Torture is defined as the act of inflicting
ideologies in the interests of changes. Definitions and what constitutes as torture. The argument is within the confines of torture being used as a strategic tool to the war on terror declared. The need to define torture is imperative in light of the different debates of what actually constitutes torture and how one distinguishes it from other means of interrogation and coercive means. A definition across board of torture is that it is “an act that brings suffering, physical and mental, by intentionally
philosophy concerned with the study of questions of right and wrong and how we ought to live” (Banks, 2013). Also it involves making moral judgments about what is right and or wrong, good or bad. In the process of everyday life, moral rules are desirable, not because they express absolute truth, but because they are generally reliable guides for normal circumstances. Ethics or moral conduct, are of major importance in the criminal justice field today. If the police force condoned unethical behavior, there
Karianna Rodriguez Professor Haley Mathis PHI130-R – Contemporary Moral Issues 5 May, 2015 Animal Rights: All Animals Are Equal Fred, a man who used to torture puppies in his basement, received a visit from the police one day. They found that he had more than twenty cages with puppies inside; many of them showed signs of torture. Fred performed a series of mutilation to them such as slicing their noses and paws with a hot knife. Once the police discovered what he was doing, they fairly charged him
The Morality of Torture The moral issue of torture is one that has come under scrutiny by many national and international organizations as of late. To talk about torture one must really understand what torture is. As taken from Dictionary.com “1.a. Infliction or severe physical pain as a means of punishment or coercion. b. An instrument or a method for inflicting such pain. 2. Excruciating physical or mental pain; agony. 3. Something causing severe pain or anguish.” This is just the literal
society towards the criminal suggests that the societal behaviour towards the de... ... middle of paper ... ... in the belief that the mental torture of re-monstrance was sufficient if the offender sincerely repented for his/her offences or breaches. However, the Italian criminologist Raffaele Garofalo argued that “a criminal by nature lacks moral consciousness and therefore expiation as a punishment has only a theoretical significance.” This outlook seems to be a rather extreme one with regard
the ancient England notably through biblical justifications. In the book either, the author brings out the demonic ways of the 1640s in East Anglia and through keen analyzes of the factors that are being stipulated in the book one can factor out the rotten society in the time and to some degree relate this to the current society and religious behaviors. The current paper looks upon the short and long term factors
things, one among them torture. They were an extreme terrorist group that did many things just to make the lives of different races terrible. Also, they held cross burnings and lynchings of black people. They justified their cruelty with passages from the Bible, and with their tainted ideas of morality. The KKK demonstrated that they thought they were superior over other races by terrorizing blacks and justified it through the Bible. Many ruthless terror tactics were used to torture blacks, like lynching
a surprise party to honking at a car that cuts you off, virtually every one of our complex actions must first undergo some sort of moral processing that tells us whether it is okay or not to do. As expected, this moral processing varies from culture to culture and is the basis of many of the culture specific traditions and laws that we see today. However, this moral disagreement across cultures is so distinct that many intellectuals, especially in this current generation, have elected to believe
citizenship, having rights is part of the membership in a type of community and in this case, it is a moral community. As such, and unlike legal or political status, rights have a normative base. That is to say, rights are not created but are instead recognized for each person. Further, its existence doesn’t depend on political and other types of institutional recognition or enforcement, rather it depends on moral argument alone. Of course there are institutions such as the United Nations that can enforce