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George Orwell's 1984: Is Torture Ethical?

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Is torture ethical? Torture is a controversial topic and has been at the center of discussion for decades past. Torture is defined as the “act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information” (Dictionary.com). In George Orwell’s, 1984 the government uses torture as a method of manipulation and paranoia on the citizens. Winston lives in a constant fear and cannot go a day without being paranoid about being turned in by the thought-police. I do not agree with torture, ast it is ineffective in most cases and morally wrong. People who are subjected to torture are trained to remain silent, no matter what the circumstances are. These people are literally willing to die for what they believe
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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.

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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.

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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.

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Pro-CIA Torture To begin, the US and it’s central intelligence agency, also known as the CIA are torturing captives, and it’s up for debate. The US should allow the CIA to torture its prisoners. It’s a way to get very valuable information from them. The torture techniques leave no marks or traces left behind on the victim. It strikes fear in the to be tortured prisoners so that they make talk before the CIA even lays a finger on them.

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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.

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In Michael Levin's The Case for Torture, Levin provides an argument in which he discusses the significance of inflicting torture to perpetrators as a way of punishment. In his argument, he dispenses a critical approach into what he believes justifies torture in certain situations. Torture is assumed to be banned in our culture and the thought of it takes society back to the brutal ages. He argues that societies that are enlightened reject torture and the authoritative figure that engage in its application risk the displeasure of the United States. In his perspective, he provides instances in which wrongdoers put the lives of innocent people at risk and discusses the aspect of death and idealism.

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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

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While analyzing “The Torture Myth” and “The Case for Torture”, it is very clear to see the type of rhetorical appeals used to persuade the audience. Anne Applebaum, the writer of “The Torture Myth” --in context of the decision of electing a new Attorney General--would argue that torture is very seldomly effective, violates a person’s rights, and should be outlawed due to the irrational need upon which physical torture is used. On the other hand, Michael Levin strongly argues that physical torture is crucial to solving every imminent danger to civilians. Levin claims that if you don’t physically torture someone, you are being weak and want to allow innocent people to die over something that could have been simply done.

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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.

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From 1939 to 1945, Nazi doctors and physicians conducted roughly 70 research experiments, many resulting in death. These cruel experiments were normally conducted in concentration camps. The Nazis had three main areas of research: survival and rescue of german troops, testing of new pharmaceuticals and medical procedures, and experiments trying to confirm Nazi racial ideology. Some of the doctors involved in these experiments were: Karl Brandt, who was Hitler's personal physician and the major general for health and sanitation. Sigmund Rascher conducted high altitude and freezing experiments.

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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."

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Physical versus Psychological tactics in 1984 Is it possible that the nursery rhyme “Sticks and Stones” is a common misconception? The children’s rhyme states that “ 'Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”. Although sticks and stones may break bones, the bones usually heal. However, words can have a lifetime impact on people. In 1984, slogans and manipulation of language scar citizens more than the Party’s physical control.

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Most of the time when someone is tortured it is because the interrogators are desperate for Important or valuable information. However, why would real “terrorist” give up valuable information that would expose their cause and what they believe in when they know they are going to die one way or the other. This just goes to show that the “suspected terrorist” are in fact suspected and aren’t real terrorist and shouldn’t be

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This is similar to our CIA society today, For torture to happened it can not happen on U.S soil. It must happen some place else.

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1362 Words | 6 Pages

In George Orwell’s novel 1984, A theme of violation of human rights is thoroughly present, from violation of privacy, violation of the freedom of speech and religion, and the loss of humanity in general from the ever present form of Big Brother. As the villain of the novel, Big Brother- who represents the government -has absolute control over the citizens’ lives. While 1984 effectively conveys the dangers of a totalitarian government, Orwell’s predicted society is not present in today’s world. Comparatively speaking, the United States of America has more rights and freedoms than Orwell’s Oceania, but in some cases the rights of the citizens must be violated for safety reasons and other justifiable causes. Orwell’s novel 1984 paints a picture

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