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The ethics of torture
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More handpicked essays just for you.
The ethics of torture
Is torture ever acceptable? essay 123helpme
The various police ethical codes
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The ethics of torture
Mahatma Gandhi, the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement states “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” This is important because torture is brutal on the body and mind. The article “Torture’s Terrible Toll” by John McCain is more convincing then the article “The Case for Torture” by Michael Levin because McCain provides more logical reasoning, he adds his own personal experience of being a captured prisoner during the Vietnam War, and he creates an emotional bond with people around the world. Through more logical reasoning McCain Argument is more valid than Levin.
The Case for Torture Wins Torture is it morally acceptable? Many have debated this argument but I would like to bring up two main conflicting view points from Michael Levin, and Marzieh Ghisai. Michael Levin is a Jewish law professor who wrote The Case for Torture where he advocates where torture is acceptable in some circumstances.
After finding some torture tactics, it helped me research about the negative effects of torture. In his article, “Torture is a Crime”, Curt Goering listed the negative effects of torture. He argues that torture is illegal, ineffective, immoral and makes those around us unsafe. Curt uses ethos in his piece to back up his main argument. For example, he mentions that in 1984, the UN adopted the Convention against torture and it was ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1990.
In the case that there is sufficient evidence of guilt as well as coconspirators, torture may be allowed but none that is inhumane. Document B: The Massachusetts Body of Liberties allows torture in the case that somebody is deemed guilty by clear evidence. In the Laws of Connecticut Colony, no torture is allowed whatsoever. Document C: Mather advises judges to continue the regular American method of obtaining confessions and to abstain from torture, for confusion is more likely to get a confession than torture. Document D: Henry warns that Congress will attempt to extort confession by practicing torture.
This is for sure going against the article number 5 in the universal declaration, “Nobody has any right to hurt us or to torture us”. As human beings if we have done nothing wrong even if we did anything wrong we have no right to be physically abused. Another example is when Elie Wiesels father states when Elie asked if he had eaten, “They didn’t give us anything… they said that we were sick, that we would die soon, and that it would be a waste of food” (Wiesel 107). This proves that the physical cruel treatment is happening to human rights because they are not being fed when they do not
It is not an effective way to gain information, as Col. Stuart Herrington states, “Nine out of ten people can be persuaded to talk with no stress methods.” Col. Herrington is a counter intelligence officer that directed interrogations
In medieval times, torture was used to punish criminals, deter crime, and gather information. There were many different types of tortures, most of which were brutal and painful. At the time, torture was deemed necessary to maintain order. Laws were harsh and torture was severe, but effective form of punishment. Despite its effectiveness, torture was often an unfair and extremely cruel punishment, and should have been eliminated in all forms.
Under fairness ethics, it is not fair for the torturer to deal with these consequences. To better understand fairness turn the tables around and determine if the same treatment is justifiable. Think about the invasion in Iraq, what if an Iraqis capture an American? Should Iraqis torture the American in efforts to learn which areas in Iraq need evacuation to save lives (Mayerfeld 2008)? Individuals would not be hesitant to defend the American’s rights and oppose torturing him This biased opinion develops only the basis of who is the victim. Hence, emphasizing the lack of equality when evaluating the morality of using torture.
Torture isn't just wrong morally but legally according to the Geneva Convention and needs to end. There is no guarantee that torture actually
Many people use torture to mess with people's mind and to use it against them. They force people to confess and use it to their advantage against people. Orwell states, “A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people ... turning one even against one's will like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic” (Orwell 11). In the book, 1984 Big Brother used torture to their advantage to gain power. In many countries, they do the same thing and many people believe this is not the right thing to do.
As this article mentions many people do believe that torture works as nobody could resist the physical and mental torture people are put through. In reality most successful cases have been done by psychology experts using other methods. They used human knowledge and applied it to the interrogation. Moskalenko, Sophia. " Great Minds Think Alike: Psychology Of An Effective Interrogation."
If torture can allow us to gain information that can save the lives of people can the use of it be justified? Can others allow people to be beaten, starved and locked up in order to gain information and say that it was for a good cause? According to ABC News and the Washington Post, “59 percent of Americans say the torture of suspected terrorists was justified, but 58 percent say torture is often or sometimes justified, as a general matter” (Bouie). As shown above, a great deal of people agree with the use of torture and say that it can be justified, but how is the process of abusing people ok? Likewise, in the book 1984 written by George Orwell torture is used by the government in order to acquire information.
The depiction of torture as the only form of interrogation hurts the
Imagine helping your country out of debt, or helping innocent people and save them from years and years of trauma. The history of torture goes all the back to to before christ was born and yet people still use it to this day like the united states, china, north korea, and mexico. From country to country people torture other humans for information and services. The definition is the same world wide which means to inflict severe pain on a another human to force them to say something or provide a service. The topic is so controversial because every human has the same rights as other humans and no human should be put through terrifying torture experiences.
The methods used for torture are so inhumane that they cannot be tolerated. For those reasons and countless others, I believe that torture is not necessary for national security. The public believes that National Security uses torture to save the lives of many innocent people, and they also believe that it is temporary pain which is not true. Being tortured becomes psychological a victim of torture will never forget what they might have gone through especially if they were innocent.